A new way forward toward a mystery goal that was only ever a mirage

By The (liberal)Girl Next Door

I am eagerly awaiting President Bush’s State of the Union address, first of all because there is always that WTF moment in every one of his speeches to the country (think “switch grass” and “animal human hybrids” and “steroids in baseball” in the midst of a failing war), but secondly because I’m curious to see if the American people will see through his “new way forward in Iraq”. A slogan is not a policy, but the Bush Administration is still ignorant to that fact.

While Tony Snow digested his Christmas turkey, Scott Stanzel took to the podium and gave this nugget to the press:

“President Bush will talk soon to our troops, to the American people and to the Iraqi people about the new way forward in Iraq that will lead to a democratic and unified country that can sustain, govern, and defend itself.”

Still aiming high eh?

Bush and the American people have never exactly been on the same page when it came to Iraq. I mean, really, what interest did most of us have in using our children to avenge a failed attempt on his father’s life? But now that we have sparked a civil war in Iraq, and more and more of our young men and women are coming home without their limbs, or, worse, in body bags, we recognize that there is no winning while the president still shoots for the moon.

If there was ever a common goal, it was supporting our troops while they are in harm's way, but, increasingly, the American people recognize that the only way to support our troops is to get them the hell out of Iraq. Meanwhile, rumor has it that Bush will argue for sending in more troops. And why? Certainly not because “winning” in Iraq is possible, or even because it is in our country's best interest, but because he must stay the course to save his legacy. Again, what interest do the rest of us have in that?

It is dangerous to have a president at the helm whose sole concern is his place in history. The troops on the ground in Iraq don’t care about that, nor do the generals, the Joint Chiefs, or the American people. If, in his State of the Union address, President Bush puts his desires above everyone else’s and proposes a troop surge to create a “democratic and unified” Iraq, he will prove that he is unfit to lead. I, for one, can’t wait to see what we do about that.

(Cross-posted at The (liberal)Girl Next Door.)