Will Bam lose Iraq?

NY Post ^ | August 3, 2010 | Ralph Peters

[samtheman]

And one of the saddest aspects of this whole affair is the way Bush and his advisers were duped by Chalabi and other nefarious Shia scum.

[Erskine Childers]

And one of the saddest aspects of this whole affair is the way Bush and his advisers were duped by Chalabi and other nefarious Shia scum.

Yeah, that was a sad moment in a long series of idiotic moves.

We went into Iraq based on intelligence that was so weak that only a willing dupe could have bought into it. I long debated with my friends whether Bush II and the Neocons conspired to bamboozle America into invading Iraq. At first I leaned toward it being an intentional fraud. But then after watching Rumsfeld (probably the worst Secretary of Defense we've ever had) go from one spastic move to the next I became convinced that the whole Bush II team were ineffective and unimaginative petty bureacrats.

I mean, a thoroughly mediocre guy like Rumsfeld would have been beyond his competency level managing a chain of Burger Kings, and yet there he was trying to manage a large military adventure and getting our boys killed in the process.

Napolean said something to the effect that one should never ascribe evil intent when stupidity is an adequate explanation. That's why I no longer even entertain the notion that Bush II knew there was no WMD, for example. They were just incompetent fools.

And I voted for them.

[NonValueAdded]

But after hearing for years about the supremacy of political over military solutions, it was odd to witness this administration's neglect of basic statesmanship (which opened the door to the Iranians).

Let's not discount the fact that a diplomatic success in Iraq would be a Hillary success and the bamster is not inclined to let that happen.

[samtheman]

I voted for Bush also. And I still look back on him fondly compared to the Anti-American Commie Muslim who rules the roost today.

But Bush made many mistakes. Number one being not connecting the importance of border security to national security.

[Erskine Childers]

But Bush made many mistakes. Number one being not connecting the importance of border security to national security.

I think you're being far too kind. Bush II wanted total amnesty. "Family values don't stop at the border." What an idiot. I used to think that it was simple elitist treason, but as I described above, I'm really convinced now it's just basic human stupidity.

Bush II gave us a guns-and-butter fiscal policy that would have made LBJ blush.

Bush gave us one pork-laden highway budget after the next.

Bush gave us the biggest increase in entitlements that we've ever had.

Bush got is into two wars that had no clearly defined exit strategies (if there was one lesson to be learned from Vietnam - a war he so assiduously avoided - it was never get into a war that you can't know you've won).

Bush appointed the HEAD OF AN INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW for cheap political reasons to head up our emergency response to Katrina, with disastrous results.

Bush signed the first bailouts in 2008.

The list could go on and on, but I'm already feeling naseous.

Better that Bambi? Okay, I'll give you that.

Swell.

But let's not get carried away. Bush was the most mediocre of men. He had no business managing the local pet store much less presiding over the gargantuan federal government.