Bush Defends His National Security Policy
OK, let's review the bidding. A few posts ago I showed you data detailing how we are doing exactly what Al Qaeda wants us to do.
The economy is in a shambles. The Detroit car companies are facing bankruptcy. If that happens, then two million jobs will be affected and the ripple effect will be like the shock wave from a nuclear explosion.
But that's all too complicated for this President who delegates all those petty details to his Treasury Secretary. Instead, we get a trip to West Point intended to prop up his insecure ego.
The article reads, "President George W. Bush on Tuesday defended his doctrine of pre-emptive war and warned that the United States must remain willing to "to take the fight to our enemies across the world.""
Bush also said, "With all the actions we've taken these past eight years, we've laid a solid foundation on which future presidents and future military leaders can build," Bush told thousands of cadets at West Point, the premier officer training institution for the Army."
Foundation is right. I've never seen a lower standard set. The only direction is up.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you're going to war with someone militarily, then you must calculate all the costs plus some and you must be willing to do whatever it takes to win. If you're not willing to do that, then you should not go to war, because all you're going to do is expose yourself as weak and you're not going to win. We have been unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary at home and provide the needed equipment and manpower to win.
What about the surge, you say? Well, now that the election is over, let me share a little secret with you. The secret is out, anyway. The force we sent to the surge was inadquate for the task. It was too little, too late. And yet it succeeded. Why? Because the Sunnis decided to expose (snitch, tattle, rat out, whatever term you want to use) Al Qaeda. That factor enabled us to succeed. Otherwise, we would have given it our last best shot and be sitting there stuck. We would have thrown good money and troops after bad and wasted them. Now, I'm really happy things turned out the way they did. Just please don't regale me with stories about what a superior strategist Bush and company are. They got lucky. Want proof? I told you the cat was out of the bag. Here's an excerpt from a Newsweek story.
"Iraq's turnaround came when tribal leaders in Anbar province, fed up with the brutality of Al Qaeda in Iraq, banded together against the insurgency. But the Taliban are running their own war, not taking orders from psychopathic foreigners."
Read the full Newsweek article here.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/166825
Here's a link to the full article about Bush's visit to West Point.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/35801924.html
The economy is in a shambles. The Detroit car companies are facing bankruptcy. If that happens, then two million jobs will be affected and the ripple effect will be like the shock wave from a nuclear explosion.
But that's all too complicated for this President who delegates all those petty details to his Treasury Secretary. Instead, we get a trip to West Point intended to prop up his insecure ego.
The article reads, "President George W. Bush on Tuesday defended his doctrine of pre-emptive war and warned that the United States must remain willing to "to take the fight to our enemies across the world.""
Bush also said, "With all the actions we've taken these past eight years, we've laid a solid foundation on which future presidents and future military leaders can build," Bush told thousands of cadets at West Point, the premier officer training institution for the Army."
Foundation is right. I've never seen a lower standard set. The only direction is up.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you're going to war with someone militarily, then you must calculate all the costs plus some and you must be willing to do whatever it takes to win. If you're not willing to do that, then you should not go to war, because all you're going to do is expose yourself as weak and you're not going to win. We have been unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary at home and provide the needed equipment and manpower to win.
What about the surge, you say? Well, now that the election is over, let me share a little secret with you. The secret is out, anyway. The force we sent to the surge was inadquate for the task. It was too little, too late. And yet it succeeded. Why? Because the Sunnis decided to expose (snitch, tattle, rat out, whatever term you want to use) Al Qaeda. That factor enabled us to succeed. Otherwise, we would have given it our last best shot and be sitting there stuck. We would have thrown good money and troops after bad and wasted them. Now, I'm really happy things turned out the way they did. Just please don't regale me with stories about what a superior strategist Bush and company are. They got lucky. Want proof? I told you the cat was out of the bag. Here's an excerpt from a Newsweek story.
"Iraq's turnaround came when tribal leaders in Anbar province, fed up with the brutality of Al Qaeda in Iraq, banded together against the insurgency. But the Taliban are running their own war, not taking orders from psychopathic foreigners."
Read the full Newsweek article here.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/166825
Here's a link to the full article about Bush's visit to West Point.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/35801924.html
I agree with much if not all of your assertions, however I would add that paying the fired 100,000 strong SunniBREMER FIRED} military 300 per month not to fight us, probably was/is the single largest factor of the success of the surge.
Bush has given future templates to all that follow on "what not to do", and our current demise can be attributed to his mediocrity.
I embrace your stance of neither left nor right, but until the other 300,000,000 join in we have little hope, and yes I feel that this is Americas biggest obstacle.
Our military is outstanding even when fighting ill advised wars but the Commander in Chief still sets the agenda.
Lastly on the auto crisis, as much as I want to see them succeed, they have made mediocre vehicles for so long, and the mgm't has been behind the curve for years, I fear that we are putting money into an already stinking hole. I'm not discounting a Phoenix type rise under tight controls, but I have my doubts.
All of this has been mostly negative, but I have high hopes for our incoming administration, I hope not too high!
Thank you for the opportunity to post here.
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George,
Thanks for your comment.
Yep, firing the military has to rank with one of the most boneheaded decisions of all time. In fact, I just had an old boss of mine tell me exactly the same thing last week.
What is most revealing about that action is the example it gives us of how the Bush Administration governed. They were unwilling or unable to think about the reaction and consequences to their action. They are/were short sighted narrow minded people.
What they did militarily exposed their methods to me and made them really worried about what they were doing elsewhere and it resulting in a damaged economy. I have seen my fears justified, unfortunately.
If you embrace my stance, then please help me by making others aware of my book, Blog and free weekly Ezine. You can sign up for the Ezine at my web site.
I have high hopes for the incoming Administration, too. My fear is that if we have replaced an incompetent administrator for a competent one, then we will not address the systemic issues that need to be fixed. That means we will still be vulnerable to having another incompetent being elected.
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Reply to this
Hi,
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