Friday
01Jul2005
The Bush Address to the Nation
Friday, July 1, 2005 at 11:30AM
A few days ago Bush appeared on TV to address military personnel and the American people from Fort Bragg (N.C.) to try and rebuild some off his tattered popularity; sinking in the polls he is a President on the Ropes.
The administration has consistently misjudged the public mood on a variety of issues. Bush has concentrated on Social Security when the real crisis is with the solvency of Medicare/Medicaid; he has intervened in the Terri Schiavo case undermining centuries of State judicial independence, and persists in a futile jaunt in Iraq.
The neocons do not seem to understand the realities of cause and effect. American foreign policy over the last 50 yrs has helped enforce the rule undemocratic regimes in the Middle East, allowing the Saudi royal family to marginalise the public while funding the very Whahabbiest teachings that fuel hatred of America. The Republican love affair with the House of Saud is nothing new so I will not venture further on the subject, however it must be stated that these friends are undermining the very safety of America.
Bush is also destroying the very fabric of equity and freedom that has made America the most revered nation on earth. Torture and illegal detention sully the good name of American values. By self-imposing the title War-President - with justification kindly provided by Alberto Gonzalez - Bush now considers himself beyond question and with a free reign. He routinely ignores Supreme Court rulings in favour of hawkish whispers in his ear from Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Cheney, and the rest of the neocon cabal. Bush fears compromise at all levels and on all fronts, a medieval approach to diplomacy that harks back to a barbaric age long passed.
The chance for reflection and a change of course is long passed as America realises the mess in Iraq is no nearer its ultimatum. In one breath the insurgency are in there “last throwsâ€, in another breath American must be prepared for the long fight, duplicity in a microcosm.
Bush claims that America has all the troops it needs while Maj. Chris Kennedy of the Third Cavalry Regiment claims he does not have the troops needed to secure areas he has wrestles from the insurgents. Enough troops to break Iraq, never enough to repair or stabilise it. Bush lacks the bravery to admit a change of tack is needed.
Representatives from both sides of the Senate are now beginning to see that the President has led them a merry dance. He used the unity and political capital of 9/11 and spent it unwisely against a foe that posed no threat to the security of America. Saddam Hussein – himself domestically on the ropes – had no capacity to threaten his neighbours never mind a superpower thousands of miles away. The President misled the American people (and through his proxy Blair, the British Parliament also) that Hussein threatened stability in the ME and needed removal. Of course no weapons were discovered and the talk became one of 9/11 – a link widely debunked – and then to democracy as the flawed elections took place. The reasoning now is neither clear nor succinct, on TV Bush delivered a tapestry of lies and non-truths to justify the ongoing futility of the war.
I agree that America and Britain must remain and stabilise the country however I feel that Rumsfeld and Bush have proven inept and out of ideas. We need new ideas and a new dedication to stability and freedom in the region. Proud resource rich countries do take kindly to foreign powers selling off their assets and Bush must realise the future of Iraqi oil is an Iraqi conundrum, not his or Mr. Cheney’s.
So what of the pointless war that has cost countless civilian lives, 1700+ American servicemen and women, and over $200bn? Well from what we can see Bush has no new ideas, no fresh approach, and lacks the humility to be honest with the American people. He is floundering only 6 months after emerging energised bathed in his own sense of glory after his expensive sickening inauguration. A President with no military pedigree, wrapped in the American flag claiming solidarity with men and women who are prepared to make sacrifices he can never understand. Bush is unable to show empathy with families who have lost loved ones as he continues to desperately defend his mistakes and follies.
As the neocon agenda begins to come unstuck they try ever more elaborate rewrites of recent history. Not once but 5 times Bush made reference to 9/11 in a speech on the war in Iraq, a war conceived before even Bush became president, a war against a tyrant with no link to the terrorist attacks, as the 9/11 commission underlined. Yet in an ever more Stalinesque move he has tried to unite the country behind a proven lie.
The President talks of preventing Iraq becoming a haven for terrorists. How poignant a warning? Never before has such a self-fulfilling prophecy been so true. Bush has created this breeding ground, as General Wesley Clark put it “we are creating enemies.†Surely now is the time to save something of this presidency and boot out Cheney and Rumsfeld?
This latest attempt to silence his critics and rally support should be dismissed as the reactionary theatre is so obviously was. We should take heed from Republican Senator Chuck Hagel who rightly claimed this ‘leadership’ is “disconnected from reality…making it up as they go alongâ€.
Bush is no hero for this or any century.
The administration has consistently misjudged the public mood on a variety of issues. Bush has concentrated on Social Security when the real crisis is with the solvency of Medicare/Medicaid; he has intervened in the Terri Schiavo case undermining centuries of State judicial independence, and persists in a futile jaunt in Iraq.
The neocons do not seem to understand the realities of cause and effect. American foreign policy over the last 50 yrs has helped enforce the rule undemocratic regimes in the Middle East, allowing the Saudi royal family to marginalise the public while funding the very Whahabbiest teachings that fuel hatred of America. The Republican love affair with the House of Saud is nothing new so I will not venture further on the subject, however it must be stated that these friends are undermining the very safety of America.
Bush is also destroying the very fabric of equity and freedom that has made America the most revered nation on earth. Torture and illegal detention sully the good name of American values. By self-imposing the title War-President - with justification kindly provided by Alberto Gonzalez - Bush now considers himself beyond question and with a free reign. He routinely ignores Supreme Court rulings in favour of hawkish whispers in his ear from Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Cheney, and the rest of the neocon cabal. Bush fears compromise at all levels and on all fronts, a medieval approach to diplomacy that harks back to a barbaric age long passed.
The chance for reflection and a change of course is long passed as America realises the mess in Iraq is no nearer its ultimatum. In one breath the insurgency are in there “last throwsâ€, in another breath American must be prepared for the long fight, duplicity in a microcosm.
Bush claims that America has all the troops it needs while Maj. Chris Kennedy of the Third Cavalry Regiment claims he does not have the troops needed to secure areas he has wrestles from the insurgents. Enough troops to break Iraq, never enough to repair or stabilise it. Bush lacks the bravery to admit a change of tack is needed.
Representatives from both sides of the Senate are now beginning to see that the President has led them a merry dance. He used the unity and political capital of 9/11 and spent it unwisely against a foe that posed no threat to the security of America. Saddam Hussein – himself domestically on the ropes – had no capacity to threaten his neighbours never mind a superpower thousands of miles away. The President misled the American people (and through his proxy Blair, the British Parliament also) that Hussein threatened stability in the ME and needed removal. Of course no weapons were discovered and the talk became one of 9/11 – a link widely debunked – and then to democracy as the flawed elections took place. The reasoning now is neither clear nor succinct, on TV Bush delivered a tapestry of lies and non-truths to justify the ongoing futility of the war.
I agree that America and Britain must remain and stabilise the country however I feel that Rumsfeld and Bush have proven inept and out of ideas. We need new ideas and a new dedication to stability and freedom in the region. Proud resource rich countries do take kindly to foreign powers selling off their assets and Bush must realise the future of Iraqi oil is an Iraqi conundrum, not his or Mr. Cheney’s.
So what of the pointless war that has cost countless civilian lives, 1700+ American servicemen and women, and over $200bn? Well from what we can see Bush has no new ideas, no fresh approach, and lacks the humility to be honest with the American people. He is floundering only 6 months after emerging energised bathed in his own sense of glory after his expensive sickening inauguration. A President with no military pedigree, wrapped in the American flag claiming solidarity with men and women who are prepared to make sacrifices he can never understand. Bush is unable to show empathy with families who have lost loved ones as he continues to desperately defend his mistakes and follies.
As the neocon agenda begins to come unstuck they try ever more elaborate rewrites of recent history. Not once but 5 times Bush made reference to 9/11 in a speech on the war in Iraq, a war conceived before even Bush became president, a war against a tyrant with no link to the terrorist attacks, as the 9/11 commission underlined. Yet in an ever more Stalinesque move he has tried to unite the country behind a proven lie.
The President talks of preventing Iraq becoming a haven for terrorists. How poignant a warning? Never before has such a self-fulfilling prophecy been so true. Bush has created this breeding ground, as General Wesley Clark put it “we are creating enemies.†Surely now is the time to save something of this presidency and boot out Cheney and Rumsfeld?
This latest attempt to silence his critics and rally support should be dismissed as the reactionary theatre is so obviously was. We should take heed from Republican Senator Chuck Hagel who rightly claimed this ‘leadership’ is “disconnected from reality…making it up as they go alongâ€.
Bush is no hero for this or any century.
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