Bush the Liar
The current news cycle includes anti-war protests heating up and voices declaring Bush lied about the reason for going to war in Iraq getting louder. It also includes Bush continuing to deny it and accusing anyone that says anything negative about the war and his handling of it as being harmful to the troops.
My Observations:
Bush and Cheney are incapable of admitting to a mistake (any mistake, not just the war). It's possible they may recognize a mistake and just not admit it publicly. But I doubt it. They are the type of people that simply cannot admit mistakes. Their psychological makeup is such that their worldview become distorted as it needs to be in order for their mistakes to not be mistakes. So when they say they are doing the right thing, they honestly believe it to be so. When they refuse to admit a mistake, it is because their minds are physically incapable of admitting their judgment could be flawed. When they outright lie about WMD's or any other threat, they don't believe they are lying. They honestly believe their own bullshit. It's just how some people are - they are so full of themselves and their power that the outside world (reality) does not intrude into their worldview. A very dangerous type of person to be leading our country.
Bush likes to say that Clinton, the Democrats, and Congress all had access to the same intelligence he did before the war. That may or may not be true. Even if it is, a legislator does not have time to pore through thousands of documents. Nor should they have to. They depend on other people to read the details and give accurate summaries. And they assumed that the President would reveal accurate interpretations. A little biased in his favor perhaps, but not outright wrong. That was a bad assumption, a mistake they will not make again. (Unlike Bush, Congress appears capable of learning from it's mistakes - sometimes.)
When Clinton looked at the data, he concluded that sanctions and other measures were working and that Hussein was not an immediate threat. Even without access to intelligence data, I could tell that. Why couldn't Bush? Because he didn't care. He wanted war with Iraq and his worldview twisted in whatever manner it needed to make it justifiable. An example of twisting the evidence to reach the results you desire.
Bush says congress gave him authority, including Democrats. They gave him some authority, but he greatly exceeded their intentions. Not to mention that they were still under the mistaken impression that they could trust what they were being told about Iraq. Nonetheless, it was still pretty foolish to give him any sort of authority. They had to know he would go to war despite their wishes and that he would use their vote against them. Bush isn't the only one that makes a mistake. Now they have realized their mistake and they are being criticized for trying to correct it? Makes sense - Bush doesn't believe in correcting mistakes.
Harming the troops: I don't think protesting the war disrespects the troops. If anything, it shows greater respect then Bush does. It shows that we object to them being put in harm's way for questionable reasons and are trying to get them to be used for something useful. I don't think the average soldier knows or cares about politics anyhow. They just do their job and watch out for one another. Most of them don't care about anything other then keeping their buddies alive and well. They just go where their told and do what they were trained to do.
My prediction (worth less then two cents):
Troops will be mostly withdrawn within a year. Either the political pressure leading up to midterm elections will dictate it or the Iraqi's will kick us out. Or we'll declare war on Syria or Iran and be required to remove troops from Iraq. We most likely won't do anything about North Korea - Bush is incapable of addressing actual threats.
My Observations:
Bush and Cheney are incapable of admitting to a mistake (any mistake, not just the war). It's possible they may recognize a mistake and just not admit it publicly. But I doubt it. They are the type of people that simply cannot admit mistakes. Their psychological makeup is such that their worldview become distorted as it needs to be in order for their mistakes to not be mistakes. So when they say they are doing the right thing, they honestly believe it to be so. When they refuse to admit a mistake, it is because their minds are physically incapable of admitting their judgment could be flawed. When they outright lie about WMD's or any other threat, they don't believe they are lying. They honestly believe their own bullshit. It's just how some people are - they are so full of themselves and their power that the outside world (reality) does not intrude into their worldview. A very dangerous type of person to be leading our country.
Bush likes to say that Clinton, the Democrats, and Congress all had access to the same intelligence he did before the war. That may or may not be true. Even if it is, a legislator does not have time to pore through thousands of documents. Nor should they have to. They depend on other people to read the details and give accurate summaries. And they assumed that the President would reveal accurate interpretations. A little biased in his favor perhaps, but not outright wrong. That was a bad assumption, a mistake they will not make again. (Unlike Bush, Congress appears capable of learning from it's mistakes - sometimes.)
When Clinton looked at the data, he concluded that sanctions and other measures were working and that Hussein was not an immediate threat. Even without access to intelligence data, I could tell that. Why couldn't Bush? Because he didn't care. He wanted war with Iraq and his worldview twisted in whatever manner it needed to make it justifiable. An example of twisting the evidence to reach the results you desire.
Bush says congress gave him authority, including Democrats. They gave him some authority, but he greatly exceeded their intentions. Not to mention that they were still under the mistaken impression that they could trust what they were being told about Iraq. Nonetheless, it was still pretty foolish to give him any sort of authority. They had to know he would go to war despite their wishes and that he would use their vote against them. Bush isn't the only one that makes a mistake. Now they have realized their mistake and they are being criticized for trying to correct it? Makes sense - Bush doesn't believe in correcting mistakes.
Harming the troops: I don't think protesting the war disrespects the troops. If anything, it shows greater respect then Bush does. It shows that we object to them being put in harm's way for questionable reasons and are trying to get them to be used for something useful. I don't think the average soldier knows or cares about politics anyhow. They just do their job and watch out for one another. Most of them don't care about anything other then keeping their buddies alive and well. They just go where their told and do what they were trained to do.
My prediction (worth less then two cents):
Troops will be mostly withdrawn within a year. Either the political pressure leading up to midterm elections will dictate it or the Iraqi's will kick us out. Or we'll declare war on Syria or Iran and be required to remove troops from Iraq. We most likely won't do anything about North Korea - Bush is incapable of addressing actual threats.
posted by Chris L from MI at 9:05 AM
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