The Pullout Has Begun

[madeline_con]

Every way but militarily, withdrawal from Iraq is underway

(snip)

And so, any day now, the president's political advisers will go to him and say something like this:

"Mr. President, if U.S. forces are not clearly on their way out of Iraq by about June 30, we will face a bloodbath in the midterm elections, and the Republicans will lose the House or the Senate or both. On the other hand, if U.S. forces are coming home, you will have cut the legs out from under the Democrats. They will have no choice but to support your drawdown or call for an even faster one. Either way, they would be in no position to blame you for any subsequent setbacks over there. Right now, you have nothing to say on Iraq that makes sense to the public. Once the troops start coming home, it will be the other side that has nothing to say."

(snip)

http://www.reason.com/rauch/120505.shtml

[NanceGreggs]

1. Between Iraq and a hard place ...

If he withdraws now, he loses his hard-core followers, the 'never surrender' crowd - and that represents a huge chunk of the dwindling support he has left.

He will have 'cut and run' in the minds of those who have supported this idiocy all along, and believed him when he said he would stay until the 'mission was complete'.

Those of us who have a brain already know that this debacle has wrought civil war in Iraq, and increased instability in the region. If he pulls out now, HE will have admitted defeat in front of the country, and in front of the world.

He's now put himself in the position of being damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't -- which is fine by me, because as far as I'm concerned, he's been DAMNED since the day he stole the presidency.

Iraq, and its people, is in ruins - MUCH worse off than it was before we got there in many ways. The only thing that keeps support for this misadventure is the supporters who are still saying, "This will all be fixed, it will all turn out fine, and the nay-sayers will be proven wrong."

Once we're gone, and the true devastation we've caused leads to even more violence, more death, we nay-sayers will have been proven RIGHT.

He's f*cked either way.

[formercia]

2. If we had not invaded Iraq

all of this would not have happened in the first place. They stole it, they bought it, they own it.

[kentuck]

3. and then they tell him the bad news....

"..and you might be impeached"..

[Doctor_J]

4. So the invasion/occupation was a political stunt all along,

and its "end" should be brought about just for an election gambit. Wow, conservatives are really, truly evil.

[ROakes1019]

10. stunt

Yes, indeedy, it was a political stunt. Even before he was elected, Bush said that a president can be great only if he's a war president. The war, from his and Rove's standpoint, was nothing more than a political play for his re-election.

[FreedomAngel82]

13. And don't forget also

that Bush was talking about invading Iraq in 1999. "This is the man who tried to kill my father."

[Crunchy Frog]

5. Planning to leave a failed state in Iraq so he can move on to Iran.

Whipping up a new batch of patriotic fervor and war hysteria in time for the midterm elections.

[NanceGreggs]

8. He'll go into Iran if he wants to ...

... because he's above the law, and doesn't have to consult anyone (according to him).

But as for public support, ain't gonna happen. 60% of Americans don't support the war in Iraq - they're not going to turn around and say, "Invade Iraq? Wow, THAT sounds like a great idea. I'll bet THAT will turn out MUCH BETTER than what we've seen in Iraq!"

And where will his next 'mighty coalition' come from? He could barely scrape together any international support of substance to go into Iraq -- and that was BEFORE the world saw how badly that turned out. Do you think they'll all jump on board for another Bush-led fiasco?

[Crunchy Frog]

17. You give the American public more credit than I do.

Maybe they'll need to prime the pump a little more with another terrorist attack. Maybe they'll just hit this country with a massive propaganda campaign. I don't underestimate the gullibility of the American people.

I do hope that they won't fall for it this time, but I'm not counting on it. The "coalition" was just for window dressing last time. They'll probably figure they can do it without window dressing this time.

Please forgive my extreme pessimism. It's just how I am.

[madeline_con]

20. "... they can do it without window dressing this time ..."

In a coutry overrun with people waiting for the rapture as they drive gas-guzzling SUVs to Wally World to buy cut rate goods made in third world sweat shops, while supporting a pre-emptive war to "liberate Iraq" and "protect our way of life"... You think they'd fall for it aagain?! ;)

[FreedomAngel82]

14. They didn't even want "elections"

He only did it because of political pressure. Go to http://www.gregpalast.com and watch his BBC newsnight segment "Iraq's Oil" which talks about this.

[NMDemDist2]

6. he won't withdraw, he'll bomb Iran and when they attack Iraq he'll have

the greenlight for the draft and a whole new "I'm the WAR preztledint" going on...


it's just too frightening for words. but I fear this is how their sick minds work.

[Crunchy Frog]

18. That's pretty much what I'm expecting too. n/t

[ruggerson]

7. If Bush has to choose between winning the election

and staying the course in Iraq to accomplish what he believes to be "the right thing," he will choose to win the election.

Republicans always choose to win elections in the end. They are not about principle or ideals, they are all about power and winning elections. At all costs.

[Donna Zen]

9. No matter what happens

He'll just say he's won. Victory! Faux and humpers at CNN will gladly perform the victory parade.

[NativeTexan]

11. Dang it......

...I know this is probably right. I just hope for better. Unfortunately, the President's Occupation of Iraq, (otherwise known as POOI), has never been anything BUT political!

There is absolutely NO reason to expect anything else from these criminals in high places.

[FreedomAngel82]

12. All you have to do

is remember that going into Iraq was planned for 2002 midterms and going out will be planned for 2008. I'm looking for a couple months from now them using pulling out and them taking Murtha's position and other democrats on getting out of Iraq and will probably have some fake "mission accomplished part two" in 2007.

[madeline_con]

15. I have to agree with the article...

I think the Repugs will scramble to remain a majority this year, to prevent any real plans of getting out actually coming to fruition.

They'd be hard-pressed to have the GOP occupy the WH if the Dems take over in the mid-terms.

This strategy would prevent the need for a domestic "terror attack"; killing Americans here, instead of killing them "over there".

[No Exit]

16. Y'all are underestimatin' ol' Chimpy

I don't blame y'all for doing that--Chimpy always gets his way by trickin' people into misunderestimatin' him.

Here's what Chimpy'll do: nothing. (Compare: sequence in "The Godfather II in which Michael Corleone says "Senator, my offer is this: nothing." This remark is said to be a favorite of Jack Abramoff's.)

Chimpy will do nothing. He will leave the troops there.

But he will send out the Lincoln Group and the Rendon Group and all those other latter-day Goebbels propaganda groups, and they will tell us, "The president is keeping his promise of withdrawing our troops from Iraq."

Some people will say, "Huh? He promised that?"
Others will say, "Huh? Withdrawing? But the troop numbers are the same!"

But what those silly people say won't matter. The Prethident and his cult followers will repeat over and over, "The president is keeping his promise of withdrawing our troops from Iraq." They will say it over and over and over. They will say it on the cable news channels. They will say it on the 5:00 news shows. They will say it in the print newspapers. They will say it in the online newspapers. They will say it on the radio.

And they will say it when you go to parties, or when you stop to chat with your wingnut neighbor or when you talk to the waitress at the diner.

And they will MAKE it be "the truth".

[madeline_con]

21. They'll stone you when you're playing your guitar. eom

[No Exit]

22. LOL!! Well, I WOULD not feeel so all alone......

ev'rybody must get stoned!

[rniel]

19. They pretend it was their idea

All along. John Mirtha who???