(P)reaction and (P)response

Rather than wait and post a reaction to Bush’s much-touted and oft-delayed public address on Iraq, we decided to throw our opinions out there before the speech. Why, you might ask? Because so much of what goes on in this town is political theater. Everyone knows that Bush is going to call for a troop surge in Iraq. We all know that he will vaguely speak about finishing the job, about fighting the insurgency, and about making Iraq a stable democracy. There are leaks to all the major news outlets already, undoubtedly official leaks, telling all the details of the address. So, why not go ahead and preact? A troop surge is a bad idea. It is a bad idea because this administration has failed repeatedly to have any sort of military success in post-war Iraq. Last summer, the President launched “Operation Together Forward” in Baghdad, adding some 10,000 soldiers to suppress violence in the Iraqi capital. Violence increased. Lots of people died, including hundreds of Americans. A troop surge is like finding a stockbroker who has lost millions upon millions in the past few years because of bad investments and saying, “Here, take my life savings and invest it for me.” Only an idiot would think this is a good idea. Yet, for some reason, this administration is blundering ahead with another 20,000 troops. Why should the American people have any faith that this administration has the slightest clue how to handle Iraq? If I came into work every day and mangled every project I worked on for 48 months, I can’t imagine that my boss would pile more work on me. Incompetence ought to be dealt with by reducing responsibility (or getting fired). Unfortunately, the American people did not punish Bush after a failed first term, but rather gave him a “mandate” to continue to do what he is doing. Mr. President, you are a failure. Your policies have failed – miserably – in Iraq. From finding WMDs to “turning a corner” to “staying the course”, all of your initiatives have lead to death, destruction, international ill-will and billions of tax dollars wasted. The best thing you could do for the country is admit that you are incompetent, then try to do the least damage possible until we can finally vomit you out of the White House and begin the healing process with someone who knows what the hell they are doing.

In presponse to Bush’s comments tonight I am encouraged that at the very least, we are embracing change. I have been consistently amazed with the proclivity of the Bush administration to pursue a strong policy of stagnation in Iraq. Regardless of the attitude of the public, the news from Iraq or the reaction of the media, the Bush team has been resilient in their policy. They declare victory, demand patience and perseverance and change nothing. It is a sound political formula in Washington DC, but not on the streets of Baghdad. As I prespond to Bush’s inevitable comments this evening, I am convinced that the turnover in the House and Senate is an opportunity for the conservative movement and the GOP. Finally, Bush is looking for, finding and implementing new ideas. What the military (and most of us) have known for a long time, that you can not defeat radical Islamic militants who embrace suicide attacks with just enough troops to occupy and rebuild a country. I am excited to see that the President is preparing us for a different and stronger approach to the war in Iraq, but I will be amazed if he can build the consensus needed to implement and complete any such troop buildup over many months. He needs agreement not only from his own party, which is hardly a given anymore, and the opposition as well. DC will absorb this new policy agenda with the same slow, lethargic ingestion it has offered for every major policy issue over the last several years. We are bogged down in a war that must be won or at least ended in Iraq. Until that happens, it will take some incredible leadership to provide policy direction that does not require people to start every speech with an “I” and finish every speech with a “q;” with everything in the middle being “ra…ra…ra.” America’s leadership seems paralyzed by this Iraq issue, and yet, the issues that create energy here in the US are everything but Iraq. Minimum wage and illegal immigration are probably the two most interesting and exciting topics to the American public, but we are forced by politicos who are afraid to rock the boat to only discuss and think about Iraq. I am thoroughly behind a new strategy in Iraq, and troop buildup sounds great to me. Either we beat down the insurgents enough to let the Iraqis handle their own problems, or we lose so many troops that we call it quits and let the Iraqis handle their own problems. Meanwhile, the US political leadership are obsessed with the Iraq topic. Speech and response, act and react. It is one big production in DC. This is what is so amazing about DC. Dan and I can write relatively accurate preactions to the speech tonight because everything is choreographed and prepared. Even the media plays their roles perfectly. They tell us what the President is going to say, break it down, and then wrap it up. The President might as well not even show up to say anything. And for that matter neither party needs to react to the speech either, we can let America’s commentators handle. They can say things like, “Well, if the President had given the speech, he would have said, “X;” and then if the opposition had responded, they would have said “not X.”” Therefore, all that is left is for Dan and me to preact about the speech that we will hear tonight. That way, we really are on the cutting edge, and maybe we will beat everyone else to the punch with our witty and in-depth analysis of a speech we have not heard.