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W E D N E S D A Y , J U N E 2 9 , 2 0 0 5Bush: Lame Duck And Lame Commander InChiefby Michael in New York on
6/29/2005 07:00:00 PMWhy are Bush's numbers falling? Why do the American peoplegrow increasingly concerned about Iraq?It isn't about people who supported the war but now have theirdoubts. It isn't about people who never supported the war andhave seen their fears realized. It isn't about people whoweren't sure about the war and still don't know what theythink. It isn't about the people who get confused every timeBush's rationalization for why we invaded Iraq changes.Ultimately, it's about George Bush.The American people have lost confidence in George Bush asour Commander in Chief. The American people are reluctant toadmit it, but they realize George Bush is a weak military leader.Last night, Bush had a chance to restore our confidence. Hefailed. Bush gave the same tired speech he's been giving forthe past few years. His idea of confronting cold, hard facts is tosay that war is "tough" and "hard," as if this were news to theAmerican people. Bush could have acknowledged mistakes, buthe is incapable of that. Bush might have given a realisticpicture of where we stand in Iraq and offered concreteproposals for making it better, but he only offered blithe happytalk that everything is great and we're going to prevail.A real military leader faces the facts on the ground. Problemsarise -- they always do -- and have to be dealt with. A realleader recognizes problems, attacks them and solves them. ButBush refuses to acknowledge any problems.For example, the training of Iraqis to take over their ownsecurity -- the single most important task in that country -- isproceeding at a punishingly slow rate. Bush threw out thenumber of 160,000 troops and then casually mentioned theyfall into three categories: trained and ready to fight on theirown, trained and capable of fighting with our help and notready to fight at all.How many of those Iraqis are trained and ready to fight ontheir own? Half? A third? A tenth? After the speech, we're toldthe truth. According to Sen. Joe Biden, only 2,500are fullytrained -- less than two percent. How many can fight withour help? About 8,900. In total, only about 8 percent can fightin any way. Of that 160,000 number he threw out, almost150,000 are not trained in any meaningful way. Bushrefuses to say what's going wrong, how he'll speed up thetraining or explain why he is refusing the offers of Germanyand Italy and others to train soldiers in their own countries. Butlet's say he doubles the rate of training to 2,500 a year. Heck,let's say he quadruples the rate of training to 5,000 a year.How long will it take for Bush to actually reach the level of160,000 troops he implies we have today? More than threedecades.Bush insists that the second the generals say they need moresoldiers in Iraq, he'll send them. But then he turns around and
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6/29/2005 07:00:00 PMWhy are Bush's numbers falling? Why do the American peoplegrow increasingly concerned about Iraq?It isn't about people who supported the war but now have theirdoubts. It isn't about people who never supported the war andhave seen their fears realized. It isn't about people whoweren't sure about the war and still don't know what theythink. It isn't about the people who get confused every timeBush's rationalization for why we invaded Iraq changes.Ultimately, it's about George Bush.The American people have lost confidence in George Bush asour Commander in Chief. The American people are reluctant toadmit it, but they realize George Bush is a weak military leader.Last night, Bush had a chance to restore our confidence. Hefailed. Bush gave the same tired speech he's been giving forthe past few years. His idea of confronting cold, hard facts is tosay that war is "tough" and "hard," as if this were news to theAmerican people. Bush could have acknowledged mistakes, buthe is incapable of that. Bush might have given a realisticpicture of where we stand in Iraq and offered concreteproposals for making it better, but he only offered blithe happytalk that everything is great and we're going to prevail.A real military leader faces the facts on the ground. Problemsarise -- they always do -- and have to be dealt with. A realleader recognizes problems, attacks them and solves them. ButBush refuses to acknowledge any problems.For example, the training of Iraqis to take over their ownsecurity -- the single most important task in that country -- isproceeding at a punishingly slow rate. Bush threw out thenumber of 160,000 troops and then casually mentioned theyfall into three categories: trained and ready to fight on theirown, trained and capable of fighting with our help and notready to fight at all.How many of those Iraqis are trained and ready to fight ontheir own? Half? A third? A tenth? After the speech, we're toldthe truth. According to Sen. Joe Biden, only 2,500are fullytrained -- less than two percent. How many can fight withour help? About 8,900. In total, only about 8 percent can fightin any way. Of that 160,000 number he threw out, almost150,000 are not trained in any meaningful way. Bushrefuses to say what's going wrong, how he'll speed up thetraining or explain why he is refusing the offers of Germanyand Italy and others to train soldiers in their own countries. Butlet's say he doubles the rate of training to 2,500 a year. Heck,let's say he quadruples the rate of training to 5,000 a year.How long will it take for Bush to actually reach the level of160,000 troops he implies we have today? More than threedecades.Bush insists that the second the generals say they need moresoldiers in Iraq, he'll send them. But then he turns around and
HuffPost PoliticsHuckabee's Huck Pac In Turmoil With StaffTurnover, Mounting Debts - Former Arkansas Gov.Mike Huckabee's political action committee, HuckPac, is undergoing a "restructuring," ExecutiveDirector Sarah Huckabee said Wednesday....11 minutes ago
Ben SmithGoing small - My story tonight: President BarackObama came alive about 50 minutes intoWednesday night’s news conference – whensomebo15 minutes ago
Daily KosOpen Thread and Diary Rescue - *Today, srkp23(pulling a double shift), ybruti, taylormattd,ItsJessMe and vcmvo2 combed through hundredsof diaries to find this powerful list. Today's...52 minutes ago
EschatonOvernight - Folk On. Newish.1 hour ago
Crooks and LiarsOpen Thread - Open Thread below...1 hour agoJ O H N ' S P H OT O S
Show AllA M E R I C A B L O G T V
Next 6AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush:...http://www.americablog.com/2005/06/bush-lame-duck-and-lam...
1 of 57/23/09 1:14 AM
Visit ourAMERICAblog TV site.see all 323 videos >I collect with
vodpod
In honor of SenatorDeMint
For the GOPers, healthcare is politics. They just
Traditional media has todebunk the birthers
One small step...
The right-wing media, thevoices of the GOP, inAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush:...http://www.americablog.com/2005/06/bush-lame-duck-and-lam...
2 of 57/23/09 1:14 AM
The TreatmentObama Has a Grown-UpTalk With America(Gulp)1 hour agoEzra KleinTab Dump5 hours agoWonk RoomSen. Byron Dorgan:The ‘Trade’ InCap-And-Trade ‘MakesNo Sense To Me’7 hours agoHealth BeatTruth Squad: WallStreet Journal HealthCare Editorial Wrong onthe Facts . . .7 hours agoDaily DoseProviders Endorse 'Payfor Value' ProposalsG AY P O L I T I C S
Visit our new gay politicssection, AMERICAblog Gay.F E E D S
Blog RSS
AMERICAblog TV RSS
Twitter RSSTwitter Feed
Get the blog by email:
Subscribe me!
Top AdAdvertise in this spot.H E A LT H C A R ER E F O R MAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush:...http://www.americablog.com/2005/06/bush-lame-duck-and-lam...
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S E A R C H
AMERICAblog
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SearchS E N D U S T I P S &C O M M E N T Samericablog@starpower.netB L O G A R C H I V E
Blog ArchiveS I T E S W E L I K EAir America RadioAlan Colmes' blogAri Melber (The Nation)Ben SmithBicycleMark's blog &podcastBilericoBradBlogBring It OnCarrie FisherCrooks and LiarsDailyKosDan Savage's "Slog"Daou ReportDemocratic UndergroundEschatonEzra KleinFire Dog LakeFiveThirtyEight.comFreeway BloggerThe Gavel (SpeakerPelosi's blog)Good As YouGlenn GreenwaldHoly Bullies and HeadlessMonstersHuffington PostHullabaloo (Digby)Jack and Jill PoliticsJed ReportJesus' GeneralKenneth in the 212Margaret and HelenMatthew GrossMedia MattersMike Signorile's "The Gist"MudflatsMyDDOpen LeftPlum LinePolitical Punch (JakeTapper)Political WirePolitics 1Pop SurfingProgressive Blog DigestQueers UnitedRawStoryRex WocknerRude PunditSmirking ChimpTalk LeftTappedTaylor MarshThink ProgressTowleRoadVetVoice.comWashington NoteWayneBesen.comWonketteWorth Repeating
N E W S L I N K SUSWashington PostNYTAP PoliticsReuters PoliticsRasmussen PollsTimeNewsweekRoll CallThe HillABCNews
P L E A S E S U P P O RTA M E R I C A B L O GOne-time donation$
Recurring monthlydonation$
Donations are nottax-deductible.L A B E L S
Select a labelL A S T 1 0 0 V I S I T O R SRecent Visitors
A B O U TA M E R I C A B L O GWhy AMERICAblog?Because a great nationdeserves the truth.What issues do youcover?US politics overall with aparticular focus on theObama Administration, theradical right, and civilrights.Who are you?John AravosisEditorWashington, DCJoe SudbayDeputy EditorWashington, DCChris RyanAssociate EditorParis, FranceRobert ArenaContributing EditorBaltimore, MarylandJacki SchechnerContributing EditorWashington, DCAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush:...http://www.americablog.com/2005/06/bush-lame-duck-and-lam...
4 of 57/23/09 1:14 AM
© 2009 - John Aravosis | Design maintenance by Jason RosenbaumSend me your tips: americablog@starpower.netAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Bush:...http://www.americablog.com/2005/06/bush-lame-duck-and-lam...
5 of 57/23/09 1:14 AM