As A Wise Man, Umm, Guy, Once Said

Your boy Tenet seems to talk out of both sides of his mouth:



Source

Millions, from all over the world, demonstrated and begged Bush to use some common sense. That's not everybody, but proof that it was no secret how he was effing up.

Actually he didn't make the statement "Mission Accomplished" or order the banner to be flown.

What he was celebrating was the military defeat of Saddam's forces. I don't think that's unseemly, do you?

Th execution of the primary strategy for the Iraq war (the establishment of a democratic, Islamic ally of the US was screwed up royally. Donald Rumsfeld was primarily to blame, but Bush was president and so he gets the blame too.

Whether or not the strategy could ever have been executed successfully is speculative, and not something that can be determined with any certainty.

Obama was following Bush's previously established plan for "ending the war" so there is a reason why he can't take all of whatever credit is due.

Unfortunately there was one aspect of the plan that Obama did not follow which has a direct relation to the current mess in Iraq. Negotiating a Status of Forces Agreement with Maliki that would have resulted in a continuing US military presence in Iraq.

Maliki has his reasons for not wanting one and so did Obama. If Obama wanted one he would have gotten one.

As soon as a SOFA was not reached, everyone should have known that something like we are seeing now was bound to happen. Perhaps not as respects the precise forces (ISIS) involved or the speed with which they have been able seize Iraqi cities, but it was certainly predictable enough to have drawn up a contingency plan in advance.

Is anyone on earth surprised that having gotten his ass in a sling, Maliki is now asking for us to bail him out? Is anyone with any basic knowledge of the region surprised that Maliki has also asked Iran to bail him out? Is anyone with half a brain surprised that ISIS has looted banks and military weapons and equipment depots in the cities they have conquered? Is anyone surprised that the Iraqi army was not up to the task of repelling ISIS - despite Administration assurances that it was? What other variables have to now be planned for? What really was a surprise?

Surely the "experts" at the Pentagon have a contingency plan for almost exactly this situation sitting on a shelf, and yet Obama tells us that he needs to think about what to do.

I am sure that the contingency plan exists and could been set in motion several days ago, just as the Iranians set in motion their contingency plan.

What Obama needs to do this weekend and into next week is to talk to political advisers, not generals. Politics, not national security is the biggest factor of consideration for him at this time.

So, what? We, the right, beg Obama to use common sense, according to our beliefs, and he doesn't. What was the lie?

He's no linger President but the **** he pulled lives after him. Deal with it.

Iraq was a stable country, twit, until W and co tipped it over.

So what? You people gave Bush a pass for every screw up he made, but you are all over Obama even before he acts. Its pure partisanship, not common sense.

I guess it couldn't just be that we agree with Bush's thinking and not Obama's because we're conservatives.

Most of you aren't even conservatives, anymore. Most of you are fundamentalists, fanatics, who don't care what a Democrat does; its to be opposed.

As opposed to your treatment of George Bush. Like you, we oppose policies we disagree with.

Bush sort of had no policies. That's why everything went to hell under him.

The idea that the people who disagree with one ideologically must be misbehaving as opposed to disagreeing is responsible for many of the problems in the world today.

While we disagreed with Bush many thousands of lives were destroyed. We had no choice in the matter.

That's your point of view. It doesn't mean that anyone with a different point of view is misbehaving, unless, of course, you can't conceive of the right of people to sincerely disagree, in which case, aliens should probably destroy the Earth and just get it over with.

Declaring most of the people with whom you disagree, or "the opposition" if you prefer, fundamentalist fanatics, has a distinct fanatical tone to it.

Agreeing or disagreeing, where thousands are not killed, is fine. I don't have to agree to disagree when that sort of mayhem is taking place.

You can act on your beliefs. I am talking about the idea that everyone on the other side of the aisle is merely misbehaving as opposed to disagreeing.

If I see somebody from that side act responsibly, I will applaud them. Show me a couple.

The problem is that you define responsible behavior as behavior in line with your political beliefs. That whole, "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it" hasn't made much impression on you.

I define it with what's humane. If people are going to suffer needlessly, I want no part of it.