President Bush's State of the Union address was mostly an exercise in futility. He spoke of balancing the budget, curbing costly earmarks, and restraining "the spending appetite of the federal government" as if he hasn't been president for the past six years. As if he hadn't signed every spending bill slapped on his desk by the Republican controlled Congress. He could have expressed support for these types of measures years ago, when he had much more clout than he does now. But he mentions it after the Democrats in the House have already passed stricter rules on pet projects (yea, I know it died in the Senate, but that's not the point).
The President spoke about the need for both parties to "cross that aisle" in order "to make life better for our fellow Americans" as if he hadn't run the most partisan and mean-spirited Presidential campaign against Democratic challenger John Kerry in 2004. I remember the thousands of delegates on the floor of Madison Square Garden wearing Swift boat purple heart band-aids and waving rubber flip-flops in the air like lunatics. It was fucking scary. I feared for my nation then, and now I have some hope that the new Democratic majority in Congress can restore some balance and moderation to our broken branch.
The most despicable aspect of his speech was his Iraq war rhetoric. It's the last card he has, and he's playing it over and over again. Like an abusive husband who controls his wife by threatening violence, Bush warns the nation that unless we obey his wishes, we are gonna be overcome with evil. Lots of evil. It was this fear mongering that persuaded most Americans to support the invasion of Iraq. And now that we find ourselves in a tragic quagmire, this snake oil salesman is telling us to drink more.
If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. We could expect an epic battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran, and Sunni extremists aided by al Qaeda and supporters of the old regime. A contagion of violence could spill out across the country -- and in time, the entire region could be drawn into the conflict.
For America, this is a nightmare scenario. For the enemy, this is the objective. Chaos is the greatest ally -- their greatest ally in this struggle. And out of chaos in Iraq would emerge an emboldened enemy with new safe havens, new recruits, new resources, and an even greater determination to harm America. To allow this to happen would be to ignore the lessons of September the 11th and invite tragedy. Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is more important at this moment in our history than for America to succeed in the Middle East, to succeed in Iraq and to spare the American people from this danger.
The problem is there are American people suffering and dying in this battle -- over 3000 dead troops and more to come. He warn us that we are faced with a "nightmare scenario" as if he had nothing to do with its creation when he staked his whole presidency on this war -- a war waged for the most cynical reason imaginable: oil. Bush will not allow Iraq to keep control of it's own oil, and that keeps his hands tied to the war machine. His 21,000 reinforcements will not do much to quell the sectarian violence in Iraq. Eventually, the United States will have to leave Iraq and the Iraqi people will have to sort things out for themselves. No forgeign occupation can last forever. Iraq cannot be saved with most of its educated class having fled the country. A whole new way of thinking about the region is needed to solve this problem. We need fresh ideas and flexible thinkers. Alas, that will not happen until Bush leaves office in 2009.
So, thanks Mr. Bush, thanks for leading our nation into the worst foreign policy blunder ever.
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