The man who mired his nation in a war of his own choosing more than three
years ago allowed that while bringing home all the "kids" he's put in
harm's way is "an objective," he'd leave it to "future presidents and
future governments of Iraq" to figure out how to do it.

Bush's Way Out is Staying the Bloody Course
by Marilou Johanek

In so many words he finally said it. In the middle of well-worn
remarks about democracy being on the march in Iraq and failure not being
an option, President Bush finally said what many have predicted and
dreaded. He has always parroted the administration mantra of bringing the
troops home when Iraqi troops are sufficiently trained to take over, but
broaching the subject of a permanent American military presence in Iraq
was studiously avoided.

Until now. The President let it slip toward the end of his recent
news conference. The moment was a stunning throwback to Vietnam. It
happened when the commander in chief was blissfully deferring to everyone
from Army generals to Iraqi parliamentarians about what would or could
happen in Iraq and when.

A reporter asked the tap-dancing Texan if, without tying himself to a
specific deadline, he could at least assure Americans that all U.S. troops
will eventually be withdrawn from Iraq. He couldn't. The man who mired his
nation in a war of his own choosing more than three years ago allowed that
while bringing home all the "kids" he's put in harm's way is "an
objective," he'd leave it to "future presidents and future governments of
Iraq" to figure out how to do it.

The Bush Administration that had sold its urgent war-making against
Iraq as a shock-and-awe regime adjustment, or relative cakewalk for a
superpower in a hurry, now suggests future administrations will be saddled
with fixing what went terribly wrong. It doesn't seem worrisome to George
W. that he will be long gone while his war rages on and American soldiers
continue to slog it out in a land pockmarked and paralyzed by deadly
violence.

More than 2,300 young Americans are dead and more than 17,000 wounded
because Mr. Bush exploited the Sept. 11 attacks to launch a totally
unrelated war against Saddam Hussein. It used intimidation and fear
tactics (i.e. WMDs, the "mushroom cloud" smoking gun, shadowy references
to 9/11) that the President now accuses Iraqi insurgents of employing to
influence American opinion about how the U.S. occupation is faring against
the occupied.

People are understandably affected by the consistent news of Iraqi
bombings, ambushes, kidnappings, and brutal sectarian violence, the
President noted to reporters. You bet we are, Mr. Bush. What is most
disturbing are the regular upticks in American casualties as Iraq
continues to convulse into a full- blown civil war. Every single day
another young soldier or two or more is blown up or cut down by stealth
enemies that blend into the population and grow ever more sophisticated at
killing.

What the President offers as a way out of the insidious crossfire is
repackaged rhetoric of staying the course. In light of the unfolding
military, political, and ethnic realities in Iraq, it is amazing that Mr.
Bush actually believes the country will fall for his warmed over fallacies
again. His plan for "victory" in Iraq is to have capable Iraqi security
forces replace American ones, a rooted democracy, and no safe haven for
terrorists.

The President sprinkles his scenario with lots of optimism for
success as he tries to convince audiences that he "wouldn't put those kids
there" if he didn't believe his scheme for winning in Iraq was good to go.
But he is fooling no one. The administration boasts of combat-ready Iraqi
battalions but the Defense Department's own assessment of Iraqi forces is
that they still remain "largely dependent" on U.S. combat troops for
logistics supply and support.

That means the riskiest missions, the chanciest convoy hauls, the
whole organizational structure of defense is still largely up to the
American military and will be for who knows how long. Not one Iraqi unit
is yet capable of fully independent operations, the Pentagon concedes.

The President is also optimistic that a unity government in Iraq will
coalesce "as soon as possible" but the sectarian divisions between Sunni
and Shiite Muslims have grown increasingly violent and the political
process has not moved forward. Former Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi recently told interviewers that his country was already in civil
war.

As for Iraq not being a safe haven for terrorists, Mr. Bush
practically laid out the welcome mat for the power-hungry when he toppled
what held Iraq together without any contingency course for securing the
country afterward.

America desperately needs a real strategy to extricate itself from
the Iraqi debacle without making matters even worse in the region. Before
they recessed last week, congressional lawmakers quietly launched a
bipartisan panel of outside experts, including some who served on the 9/11
Commission, to come up with a workable blueprint that will, as one put it,
allow the U.S. to disengage but not abandon Iraq.

Anything is better than a failed policy recycled to salvage midterm
elections.

Marilou Johanek is a Blade commentary writer.

© 2006 The Toledo Blade

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The resolution that roars:

Whereas George W. Bush has:

1.. Misled the nation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction;
2.. Misled the nation about ties between Iraq and al-Qaeda;
3.. Used these falsehoods to lead our nation into war unsupported by
international law;
4.. Not told the truth about American policy with respect to the use of
torture; and
5.. Has directed the government to engage in domestic spying, in direct
contravention of U.S. law.
Therefore, the voters of the United States of America ask that our
representative to the U.S. House of Representatives file articles of
impeachment to remove George W. Bush from office.