Bush: I won't change strategy in Iraq

[katinmn]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061020/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq_1;_ylt=AiIGCaRC5MX4ig6PKQuCUQ9saMYA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGVna3NhBHNlYwNzc3JlbA--

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush conceded Friday that "right now it's tough" for American forces in Iraq, but the White House said he would not change U.S. strategy in the face of pre-election polls that show voters are upset.

With Republicans anxious about the potential loss of Congress — and with conditions seemingly deteriorating in Iraq — Bush addressed the question of whether he would alter his policies.

"We are constantly adjusting our tactics so that we achieve the objective, and right now it's tough, it's tough," Bush said in an Associated Press interview.

Bush summoned Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, to the White House for consultations Friday afternoon. The White House said Abizaid already was in town and Bush asked him over. The president also will consult by video conference on Saturday with Abizaid at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., and with Gen. George Casey, who leads the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq, to determine if a change in tactics is necessary to combat the increasing violence.

Despite calls for change, Bush said, "Our goal has not changed. Our goal is a country that can defend, sustain and govern itself, a country that which will serve as an ally in this war. Our tactics are adjusting."

[Botany]

1. The change in strategy

Is already a done deal.

[saigon68]

33. ABIZAID THINK ? his brain is the size of a Walnut (apologies to walnuts)

These generals are like the lot who propped up Hitler in the bunker.

Boot licking ass kissing WAR CRIMINALS

[0007]

61. .....and we're gonna go after every fucking war criminal that

brought this country shame.

[buff2]

2. Good...........I'm glad to hear that.

His arrogance,ignorance and stubbornness only helps us. Bu$h,you are a total moron and ass-wipe.

[Fridays Child]

6. Yes, but bear in mind that it will only result in further carnage...

...both Iraqi and American. His statement definitely hands peace-loving Democrats a double-edged sword.

[rodeodance]

3. it's tough, it's tough,"----------------

[brokensymmetry]

4. Great! You tell 'em, Georgie!

Let's see now...we get the House, the Senate, the Whitehouse...

And the rethuglican party goes the way of the Whigs...

And the * cabal goes to the Hague...

Yeah, I could like that. Just stay the course, George. And
remember, you're doin' a heckuva job!

[izzie]

5. Just heard a small thing on TV with Bush. He sounded drunk

I am sure he is going to stay. It seems when Bush think he is right he stays. How can he leave when you think about it. His ego will not let him and to heck with the people who gets killed.

[sam sarrha]

11. he had a schizophrenic break an gOD told him to invade an create a Utopia

on earth and probably jesus would come or somehing..

his comment about Iraq being a coma in the history books is a reference to a religious saying

'Don't put a period where gOD puts a comma.'

the guy is F*cking Insane !!!!

[izzie]

45. And he is President and has his men into every agency in the govt.

And they will stay until he leaves. You can count on things staying about the same. Even if Congress goes to the Dem. The running of the govt. is now done by the die in the heart Bush people. That is what I mean when I have said things change slowly. This meeting of the Generals is just show for the election also.If the Generals want to keep on the up right path they will also play the game. Just as the lower General asks for more men and the higher up guy would never do that as DOD does not want to produce them of even say we need them. The GOP is for power and keeping it not for the people of this country.

[sam sarrha]

7. he said he'd stay if the only supporters of the war his dog and his wife.!

now that is dedicated mental illness..

please click on the blue link in my signature.. it explains what a wet brain alcoholic is..

[patrick t. cakes]

29. didnt the son of sam talk to his dog??

[Skittles]

39. I believe his dog talked to him, Pat C

yes INDEED :o

[Solly Mack]

8. a "goal" is not a strategy

just saying...

[pinto]

9. Abizaid "was in town and Bush asked him over"? Please. Sorry,

Ms. Reichmann, but that line doesn't cut the journalistic mustard. Abizaid was called back in the face of the breakdown in Iraq. He didn't just happen to be in town and Bush didn't just ask him to drop by. Come on.

[katinmn]

13. Yeah, that sentence did not add anything except to coverup the

state of emergency Bush has created.

[maddezmom]

35. better headline:Bush summons top commander to discuss way forward in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush summoned his top commander in the Middle East to Washington to discuss the way forward in Iraq amid escalating sectarian violence, senior US officials said.

Bush met with General John Abizaid at the White House Friday and scheduled a broader meeting Saturday with his national security team, Abizaid and General George Casey, the US commander in Iraq who was to join in via a video hook-up from Baghdad, officials said.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the meeting was "nothing unusual."

White House spokesman Tony Snow also sought to tamp down a growing sense of crisis, insisting it had been "on the schedule for weeks" and was not in response to the surging violence in Iraq and a rising US death toll.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061020/pl_afp/usiraqmilitaryunrest_061020224013

If he's been on the schedule for weeks as you say, why weren't you promoting it earlier Tony? Liars :puke:

[edbermac]

10. Of course not; because he wants to blame US!

If we take over control of the House; he'll have a perfect excuse "I wanted to stay the course, the cowardly Democrats cut and ran"

Let's face it; we will be the ones to clean up Georgie's mess...

:kick:

[MichiganVote]

12. Yeah its tough for US troops...as in tough shit from your president

[katinmn]

15. And its "tough" for the Iraqi orphans, too, and all those living in terror

in Iraq.

[MichiganVote]

26. They fall into the even 'tougher shit' that * believes in

[high density]

14. CBS News' take: Bush Says He'll Reconsider Iraq Tactics

President Bush acknowledged Friday that the situation in Iraq was tough and said he would consult with U.S. generals to see if a change in tactics was necessary to combat the escalating violence.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/20/iraq/main2110082.shtml

??????

Is it just me or do these two articles about the same exact thing contradict each other? Somebody is sending mexed missages!

[Kagemusha]

16. Used to be he didn't understand the difference

between tactics and strategy...

I remember that it came up on DU once...

[katinmn]

18. Same story. Conflicting headlines. Head bang!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/10/20/tony-snow-bangs-head-agai_n_32151.html

[habitual]

17. they'll twist the English language into knots not seen before

they think they can totally change their strategy and call it a tactical change, not a strategical change.

they think they can get away with cutting and running all the while saying the battlefield is dynamic and they are able to 'adapt' to the current circumstances.

I see it's got Snow banging his head on a podium trying to explain their new definitions of English words...

HAHAHAHAA

[Straight Shooter]

19. "Right now it's tough, it's tough," is what he says to the public.

But he's thinking to himself, "Right now, tough shit, tough shit to all of you."

[Jack Rabbit]

20. I know why he'll "stay the Course"

First of all, he really believes his own bullshit about if the US abondons the neoconservative colony in Iraq, the terrorists will take over.

Okay, one may ask, why won't he do something to win?

Because that would mean imposing a draft, something nobody is going to like, and raising taxes, something his corporate cronies won't like. On the other hand, he can put the tax burden on what's left of the middle class, but then the middle class won't likely vote Republican for a while.

Bush is paralyzed. He doesn't want to lose and he doesn't want to sacrifice his own position in order to win.

Of course, the worst scenario of all for Bush is that no sacrifice will win in Iraq. The situation may be that bad.

[Eugene]

21. Staying the course... right off the the cliff.

The realists at BushCo can propose whatever alternatives they want,
but Little Boots has already made up his mind. His holy crusade
to save the Middle East continues as planned.

As long is Bush is in office, the U.S. will stay in Iraq.
It will be up to the next president to manage the disaster.

[Malva Zebrina]

22. Bush cannot change the "goal" whatever that may be--changes every week or

so.

The reason is that he cannot admit failure and now we see the Bush #41 guys coming out and buttng up against the little lord fauntelroy progeny who has always resented his dad's influence and one upmanship--he is in competition with his "dad" and hates his father's policies--not becuase of any rational and studied analysis, but because of pure psychological motives. Now those loyal to huis father, those who were plopped into the son's administration to keep an eye upon the stupid son, are plotting against him--remember that photo op of the #41 and the # 43 out on the golf course in Kennebunkport and the #43 wore a baseball cap that said "BOSS" on it?
That is at the bottom of this--and the little boy, the little elitisist frat boy, will never admit that he FAILED AGAIN!!! as has been his modus operandi all of his miserable life.

But nevermind--daddy wll still protect him--he bought a 100,000 acre ranch in Paraguay and sent, of all the US diplomats we always love and admire, Jenna the slutish, to go there to check out the property and to give her stamp of approval to this purchase?

Why?

Think about that. Why is he purchasing an enormous amount of land in Paraguay?-- a whole lot of land in Paraguay and WTF is Jenna the tongue sticking out spoiled brat doing there on a ten day journey?

Food for thought.

[IndianaGreen]

23. Echoes of Hitler holed up in his Berlin bunker

still expecting a counter offensive from a fictitious army.

[Marrak]

24. Is that Laura and Barney?

or Barney and Eva Braun?
(hang tuff!)

<>

[arewenotdemo]

31. OMG! Barney as Forrest Gump!

[CoffeeCat]

25. Junior has a strategy?

How can you change a strategy if you never had a strategy in the first place?

He's running a discombobulated, ill-planned, lie-based, money-sucking, murdering debacle
that's killed nearly 3,000 US Soldiers, 600,000+ Iraqis and has rendered 100,000 Iraqi
children homeless.

Gee. Sounds like we should just continue with this brilliant "strategy", Mr pResident.

:eyes:

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

27. When Will You Resign? We are way beyond talking "strategy"...

When Will You Resign?
When Will You Resign?
When Will You Resign?
When Will You Resign?

That is the question he should be asked, over and over.

This question assumes he is a disgraced looser, talking about Iraq, like we can still salvage
something, gives him way too much credit, he does not deserve.

[The Brethren]

28. he 's on autopilot

the head moves, but the neurons aren't.

[Skittles]

40. yeah, the head moves

:o

[The Brethren]

41. LOL

Now that is freaky. He could almost be Frankenstrin...with cheney as Dr. Franinfurter

[AIJ Alom]

30. "It's tough in Iraq. Thank God it's so easy to send other people's sons

and daughters into harms way."

[Heidi]

32. Kick.

:kick:

[maddezmom]

34. "consulted" w/ Abizaid for1/2 hr

~snip~
Bush met with Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, at the White House for a half-hour Friday afternoon. The White House said Abizaid already was in town and Bush asked him over. The president also will consult by video conference on Saturday with Abizaid at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., and with Gen. George Casey, who leads the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq, to determine if a change in tactics is necessary to combat the increasing violence.

more:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061021/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq


Bush to consult generals about Iraq strategy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Friday he will resist election-year pressure for a major shift in strategy in Iraq, despite growing doubts among Americans and anxiety over the war among Republican lawmakers.

"Our goal in Iraq is clear and it's unchanging," Bush told Republican loyalists, denouncing Democrats who want a course correction as supporting a "doubt and defeat" approach.

But less than three weeks before November 7 elections, pressure is growing in the U.S. Congress for a major shift in a war that has cost the lives of at least 73 Americans in October alone.


"I don't believe we can continue based on an open-ended, unconditional presence," Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe was quoted as saying in The Washington Post.

"I don't think there's any question about that, that there will be a change" in the U.S. strategy in Iraq after the November 7 congressional elections, she added.

more:http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-10-21T092141Z_01_N20203713_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-USA.xml

[Vinca]

36. Isn't that a definition of insanity?

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

[4bucksagallon]

37. To use the Vietnam model here is appropriate......

Bush is the newbie platoon leader, untested in combat, who is about to lead your men into an ambush. You have been through it all and realize that to go the route he is suggesting is to invite an ambush. You offer an alternate course, or tactic, that brings you to the same place but does so more safely. "NO, he says "orders are to lead you men through that paddie and into that tree line." You realize this idiot hasn't a clue and could care less about the men he is leading. "Stay the course" is just BS, but this is what our soldiers are facing today. "CHICKENHAWKS" who the hell would want one as their leader? I am just so sick of this crap.

[cliss]

38. Ok, Readers. In case anyone wonders

why he is saying this.

It's because they CAN'T change course. They have NO IDEA how to fix the problem of owning & subsequently destroying a country.

We are stuck there because they DON'T KNOW how to get us out.

Einstein: "The people who get us into these fixes cannot get us out".

[Miss Chybil]

42. So much for "by the people, for the people" blah, blah, blah.

The king has spoken.

[Kenergy]

43. What an idiot

"We're digging a hole folks, hehe, and we're goin' to keep digging a hole.
It's hard work, but we have to keep digging over there so we don't have to dig over here.
We're not gonna cut and run . We have to keep using shovels to catapult the s**t!

<Sweet Jesus, when will this nightmare end???>

[Clarkie1]

44. Notice there is now no mention of "democracy" as part of the goal.

Despite calls for change, Bush said, "Our goal has not changed. Our goal is a country that can defend, sustain and govern itself, a country that which will serve as an ally in this war. Our tactics are adjusting."

[dos pelos]

52. that is because the war is really a resource grab

Clumsily executed.The "no blood for oil " folks are correct.Big power struggling for central asian resources.911 the pretext.The US public anesthetized.The "opposition" party representing,for the most part,the same corporate interests as the Republican big oil/finance folks.Well,its more like the Republican party represent the owners of the economy/political machine and the democrats do their bidding,as employees,kind of like a golf player and his caddy.
The rest,in Iraq,is tactics.Lousy tactics,arrogant,ignorant underestimation of the Iraqi people.

[tabasco]

46. Bush considers US soldiers expendable.

As long as the corporate goals are met, Bush is successful.

The traitorous robber barons don't give a damn about US soldiers being killed.

[Vidar]

47. Such intransigence doomed Hitler & nearly Stalin as well. Go hide

in your bunker, bubble boy. We're coming for you.

[ckramer]

48. "you guys elected me twice to the whitehouse, ...

that means it's okay to be your dictator! Now shutup and do as I said!"

LOL

[Zorra]

49. Just like an idiot coach that has very talented players but still lost

every single game.

The coach told reporters, "Yeah, we have a great team and lost every game, but I see no reason to change the playbook, we might win a few games next year."

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" Ben Franklin

[Eurobabe]

50. Chimpy McCokebrain: I'm the DECIDER

and I decidered that we stay in Iraq, Dick wants the oil.

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

51. Fucking moron.

This is going to be so much worse than Vietnam. What an idiotic egomaniac.

[0rganism]

53. You can't change what wasn't there in the first place

The doofus-in-chief has spent the last 3 years confusing and conflating goals with plans, strategy with tactics, and victory with quagmire. If they had a coherent strategy to begin with, even W could be consistent within the bounds of your average 3x5 notecard's worth of prepared statements. But he can't, nor can anyone else in this evil joke of an administration.

The conclusion is obvious: the president never had a plan beyond using the war for personal gain for his political allies, he doesn't intend to get one anytime soon, and he's relying on the lapdog press to cover for him during his last two stupid years in office.

[karlrschneider]

55. Chimp doesn't do nuance...especially when it comes down to

distinguishing between tactics, strategy, goals, missions, and methodology. They all just blend into a blurred miasma of confusing terms in his mal (or mis) functioning brain. A fair number of people, including even some DUers claim he's not really an idiot, just that he's simply evil. I suggest he is both.

[0rganism]

56. I don't think he's an idiot, per se -- although he does play one on TV

I'm not entirely convinced that he's personally evil, even if he is definitely the marionette of a very evil bunch of puppetmasters.

What I think we can agree on is that he's severely brain damaged, and malfunctioning dangerously on a daily basis. Too much cocaine and alcohol in his days of youthful indiscretions, and too much rightwing poison in the years that followed. Now he's a corrupted shell of a human, masquerading poorly as a president, relying on the puppeteers to keep his head attached.

[aaronbees]

54. The strategy has been to create perpetual war

from the get go. Of course he won't change that! And the goal has always been a power grab for influence and domination, not democracy or actually "winning" anything apart from a stranglehold on the Middle East.

[dos pelos]

58. Yes it is a resource grab,absolutely.

A great power struggle for a necessary resouce for developed industrial economies.But there will not be the necessary tolerance for an indefinite warfare,note,not support,but just tolerance.Therefore,as the public becomes restive after a while,restraining measures are necessary,and voila...just as needed...the Military Commisions Act...supported by Republicans and their quisling Democrat Senator colleagues.Now we can label any dissenting,questioning or uncooperative American citizens as enemy combatant supporters,no Habeus Corpus,to jail and the tribunal.Democrat Senators,almost unanimously voted for this.A perpetual war necessitates a tyranny.

[dos pelos]

59. Its not just Bush,the Senate is corrupted,Quislings

Getting rid of "Chimpy" solves nothing.There is an elected political aristocracy on both sides of the aisle.Bish I,Bush II,Clinton and Clinton.The Kennedys.A bloated,corrupted bought out worthless Quisling mass.Theywill push this war,this repression.They will fight this war to the very last drop of your blood.

[Unvanguard]

57. Apparently, 650,000 isn't enough for him.

Perhaps he'd like to have the blood of a million people on his hands instead?

[truthisfreedom]

60. thank you Henry Kissinger for destroying the repuke party forever.

what a great man! he's convinced bush to ride the Titanic all the way to the sea floor, with the entire rethug crew on deck!