The Crawl to War: What are you waiting for, Mr. President?

Opinion Journal ^ | 02/18/03 | BRENDAN MINITER

[Pokey78]

Germany, France and the 10 million protesters who turned out en masse this weekend are not the only ones taking affirmative steps to delay the inevitable battle to topple Saddam Hussein. Now that the U.S. is apparently backing an 18th U.N. resolution that would set up a series of tests for the Iraqi dictator, it should be clear that George W. Bush is also slow to this fight.

[Pokey78]

When will the waiting game be over, Mr. President?

When all the pieces of the puzzle are in place. Sheesh!

[nhoward14]

Gee... Bush didn't start bombing Afghanistan fast enough either if I remember correctly.

I will just relax, rest assured that Dubya will be turning the place 2000 degrees at just the right time.

[per loin]

The 101st is still on its way over.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

"The delays have also seriously damaged the U.N. It is now clearly irrelevant. The Security Council would not be confronting Saddam had President Bush not confronted the Security Council. If the U.N. inaction stays in the spotlight much longer, the debate will turn to whether the U.S. should remain in such a feckless body. Australia's Prime Minister John Howard is already openly saying that his nation's security is more closely linked to the U.S. than the U.N."

Bush wants the whole world to realize how irrelevant the UN is. So, that in the future, after Iraq is taken care of and we head off to the next battle, we will not first check with the UN. That has been the goal, all along. Remember, Clinton wants to be Sec. General of the UN, and Bush, doesn't want to have to go before Sec. Gen. Clinton, in 2005, for his stamp of approval, or France's either, for that matter.

[A Citizen Reporter]

"When all the pieces of the puzzle are in place. Sheesh!"

So this is a "journalist" who doesn't believe we are in a rush to war. Too fast, too slow, too hot, too cold, too imperialist, too spineless.

I'm so glad that we have President Bush calling the shots, and not a bunch of ex-foreign policy, ex-military, ex-political wonk "journalists"!

[thegreatbeast]

The thing is though Pokey with every tick of the clock our enemies both here and abroad have been busier than beavers organizing every kind of dissent. Everywhere, everywhere the president is losing the initiative. By entering into this international dog & pony show in the first place, Bush has ceded his ability to act spontaneously.
The whole thing is bad news right now. We should have gone.

[flaglady47]

You are absolutely right, thegreatbeast. We should have gone by now. Any more time given just allows the long knives to come out more and more. No more delay, please. Get the show on the road. Let's roll.

[nunoste]

Wasn't the 101st one of the divisions whose equipment was already "prepositioned"? I could have sworn it was. If so, then the 101st can be there and ready in a matter of days. Either way, I thought the 101st was supposed to be capable to go from stop to fight in under 72 hours.

Also, I got a question for the board. Can someone please post where we can find a list of French and German made products so I know what not to buy the next time I want to spend my greenbacks? That would be mighty useful.
Thanks ahead of time.

[St.Chuck]

When all the pieces of the puzzle are in place. Sheesh!

That is the correct answer.

[Pokey78]

I saw file footage today of helicopters wrapped up in white plastic ready to be loaded onto ships. I gathered that they were from the 101st and that this was recent footage. So it will take at least a few weeks to get everything over there.

[St.Chuck]

By entering into this international dog & pony show in the first place, Bush has ceded his ability to act spontaneously.

Bush will do what he believes is right, no matter what the dogs' and ponies' tricks are. First, the military must be in place. It is not ready to go as of yet.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

10 million protesters?

Last i heard it was only 3 million

[america-rules]

"You are absolutely right, thegreatbeast. We should have gone by now. Any more time given just allows the long knives to come out more and more. No more delay, please. Get the show on the road. Let's roll. "

The faster we go in the more American Sons get killed.

You people need to stop being arm chair generals and let the real leaders conduct this at the right time. Don't you know they have billion dollars computers going through every possible solution, battle plan and war dead?

They know what they're doing and you'll know when the book is written after this is over!

[chnsmok]

I think the 3 mil figure came from press reports (CNN) from Podunk Junction Arkansas.

[PhilDragoo]

When will the waiting game be over, Mr. President?

It's a military thing a journalist wouldn't understand.

Two point five million Anacephalics for Saddam's Security (ASS) moon the earth--

--while ninety-nine point ninety six percent of the earth yawns.

Journalists and useful idiots cannot hasten nor delay the hour of Saddam's reckoning by as much as a minute.

. . .and it just drives them crazy. . . .

[bluefish]

10 million protesters?

- Last i heard it was only 3 million

They will be stating 50 million by the time the next election rolls around, and they will still be referring to the same protest!

[tjg]

"our enemies both here and abroad have been busier than beavers organizing every kind of dissent."

This is a very salient point. If the the President is bidding his time to get evrything in place, that's a necessary wait. If he's waiting to see if he can recuit more allies I think he has overplayed his hand.

[Timm]

The delays would be troubling if they indicated some lack of resolve within the administration, or from Bush himself. Neither is the case.

It's obvious that Bush long ago crossed the line into wholehearted commitment to undoing Saddam. It's all a question of timing, now.

There are two good reasons for another few weeks wait. I'm sure these explain Bush's present delay. The military buildup will be more thoroughly completed in just a couple more weeks. More importantly, a delay would help Blair. We shouldn't forget, Blair faces the very real prospect of being tossed out of government, particularly if there is no new U.N. resolution. Yes, he's Labour, but it's not as if Duncan Smith is going to take over if Blair's out. Some other, further left, anti-American prick would take over the reins. It's seriously in our interest to try and keep that from happening. Not that I think it's worth not acting because of this worry, and neither does Bush. But it's worth waiting a few more weeks.

[pushforbush]

I think this is just some protective fire for the President from the right, to make the President appear to be anything but hasty to the common folk. Watch for others to criticize the President for moving too slow, so it will look to the common folk like he is moving at just the right speed.

[JackelopeBreeder]

I always get a hoot out of every time the non-military dorks sound off. Keep in mind that journalism majors come off the same wrong end of the bell curve as education majors. Otherwise known as the shallow end of the gene pool.