The Stuntman-In-Chief

http://www.progressive.org/webex03/wx120103.html 
 
December 1, 2003

Presidential Stunt Man

By Matthew Rothschild


There it was. 

Another stunt.

George Bush's Thanksgiving visit to Baghdad airport, dreamed up by the
hyperactive White House PR department, was typical Bush machismo, but
it won't help him in the long run.

Flying in on Air Force One, with all of the protections the military
could offer, Bush was not facing the kind of risk that the 130,000
U.S. soldiers face every day, worrying about who might be around the
corner of the next building or which bit of pavement up ahead might
blow up in their face.

And no matter how many times Bush visits Iraq, the situation on the
ground there will not change.

The U.S. is engaged in a guerrilla war that's not going away.

If anything, it's getting worse. 

The United States lost 81 soldiers in November, more than in any
preceding month, including the month of the invasion.

And much of the Iraqi populace seems to be turning against the U.S.
occupation.

The New York Times had a front-page article on Thanksgiving day, which
I was reading at about the time Bush was landing in Baghdad.

And that article noted that even U.S.-trained firefighters in Mosul,
who had received huge pay increases, cheered the killing of two U.S.
soldiers there.

"They are occupiers," said one firefighter. 

"We want them out."

This reaction suggests that the United States has worn out its
welcome.

Odds are that more and more Iraqis will be joining the insurgency.

And as in Vietnam or Algeria, brute military force will not be able to
prevail.

Nor will the handing over of power to handpicked Iraqis to do the
killing for Bush. 

Already his plan to confect a new Iraqi government, without elections,
has fallen through.

The Shiites are demanding elections. 

And Bush, who claimed to be going to Iraq to install democracy, is now
in the embarrassing position of opposing them.

Bush is caught in a trap of his own making.

And he may have to gnaw off his own leg to get out.
____________________________________________

Li'l Georgie doesn't have time for bullshit like that. 
Where's the kid fundraising today? Anyone know?

Harry