Demagogue

I was reading this article about Bush's recent speeches on war and terrorism when I came upon this quote from Christopher Preble, director of foreign policy studies at the CATO Institute:

“... certainly the president has made clear that there will be troops (in Iraq) when he leaves office.”

I've heard Bush make this statement before, but reading this reference in print suddenly made me realize what a ridiculous statement this is.

Think about it. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be 2 years and 4 months before Bush leaves office. Even I have to admit that things could change significantly in Iraq over that span. I seriously doubt things will get much better, but (at least publicly) Bush has strongly suggested that things will get better if only we stay the course. On Monday, he declared:

"America will stay in the fight. Iraq will be a free nation, and a strong ally in the war on terror. We can be confident that our coalition will succeed ..."

But when will the coalition succeed? Apparently not for at least 2 years and 4 months -- because Bush says we'll still need troops over in Iraq when he leaves office.

Bush doesn't have a crystal ball, and his wife doesn't seem to be consulting with psychics a la Nancy Reagan. Therefore, it is somewhat revealing that our publicly optimistic president seems to acknowledge that the violence and mayhem will continue for well over two more years.

Indeed, earlier today, multiple bombs in Baghdad killed 22. I'm sure we'll hear the requisite White House statement about how these bombings "only prove that those people don't have any value for human life ..."

As if that pronouncement does anything to quel the violence.