Bush faces down own party as discontent over Iraq deepens

The man who constantly confuses stubbornness with resolve is at it again. Faced with Republican defections over his Iraq war policy, Bush has decided to do what he always does and insist that black is white, the moon is made of green cheese, and he's the Decider and that's the end of it.

He said: "You have got all the troops there a couple of weeks ago... They have just showed up and are beginning operations in full and you have people in Washington saying 'Stop'." He added: "I believe it is in this nation's interest to give the commander a chance to fully implement [the strategy] and Congress should wait."

In a direct rebuff to his critics in Congress, he said: "Troop levels will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington DC." But the Republican revolt continued to grow, with new senators going public to express their scepticism with the "surge".

The lie, of course, is that troops levels are being set by "commanders on the ground".

Indeed, before the invasion Donald Rumsfeld replaced General Shinseki as Army Chief of Staff with General Peter J. Schoomaker after Shineski "questioned the cakewalk scenario, and told Congress (that February) that we would need several hundred thousand soldiers in Iraq to put an end to the violence against our troops and against each other."

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called his estimate "wildly off the mark" and said, "I am reasonably certain that they will greet us as liberators, and that will help us to keep requirements down."

So there was certainly no deference to military commanders before the conflict, nor has there been any sign of deference during the conflict with commanders being replaced if they do not agree with the current policy as it is articulated by the White House.

General Casey stepped down because he did not agree with the planned "surge" so - again - it's simply ludicrous for Bush to pretend that this war is being fought according to the wishes of the generals:

In a telephone interview on Friday, General Casey continued to caution against a lengthy expansion in the American military role. “The longer we in the U.S. forces continue to bear the main burden of Iraq’s security, it lengthens the time that the government of Iraq has to take the hard decisions about reconciliation and dealing with the militias,” he said.

So, again, we have this silly product of a privileged background refusing to accept the political or military reality of the position he now finds himself in. This man, who all his life has been bailed out by others, thanks to his well connected family, again refuses to accept defeat.

It's alien to his nature. Life has always given him what he wanted eventually, even if daddy had to intervene, so he feels sure that this will somehow sort itself out if he only shows "resolve".

The White House argument is basically that the full deployment of the 30,000 extra troops was completed only last month so the strategy has not yet been given a chance. But Republican critics, such as senator Olympia Snowe, who may vote with the Democrats on the April deadline, countered that, though the full deployment was completed only last month, most of them had been in Iraq for months and had not made a significant difference.

"Clearly we're at the crossroads of hope and reality, and now I think we have to address the reality, and that includes the president," Ms Snowe said. Another Republican senator, Lamar Alexander, called for US troops to shift from a combat role and toward training of Iraqi troops. "The surge by itself in my opinion is not a strategy," Mr Alexander said.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll showed yesterday that more than seven in 10 Americans favour withdrawing nearly all US troops from Iraq by April.

It's easy for someone who has never actually had to face any kind of real hardship to confuse stubbornness with resolve, and that is what we are witnessing here. Other people's children die whilst this pampered parvenue - with almost zero real military experience - continues to insist that he's right and everyone else is wrong.

For four years this man has been claiming victory is simply over the next hill. And at all times, using all measurements available, the news has been unremittingly going from bad to worse. Initially they refused to even accept that an organised insurgency was taking place against them with the White House dismissing the emerging insurgency as "remnants of Saddam's regime". Then they refused to accept that a civil war was breaking out as Cheney insisted that the insurgency was "on its last legs".

For four years every single prediction these men have ever made has turned out to be, not just nonsense, but a form of optimism that bordered on the delusional.

His supporters are now dwindling, he is now propped up by only the most rampant and zealous remnants of the Republican party, the kind of people who still think Vietnam could have been won had the US shown more "resolve".

The lunatics have taken over the asylum. And Bush is their perfect leader. Militaristic. Stupid. Ignorant. Stubborn.

How many more have to die? How many more years have to pass before Bush will admit what most sentient human beings have long ago grasped? It's over. You lost. And you lost because you were too arrogant to listen to your generals when they were telling you things you didn't want to hear.

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