To be considered an “expert” today it is sufficient that you have failed spectacularly at your job. To be considered an “expert” on war, it helps if you avoided fighting in one. This is evidenced by the procession of Bush men and neocons, who are getting air time to tut-tut the President, over the devolving situation in Iraq.
“I’m Dick Cheney. I start wars I don’t fight in them.”
Once again, everyone’s least favorite, demented, grumpy uncle, Dick Cheney, is weighing in. This time in an Op Ed piece for the Wall Street Journal. He says of Obama “Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many.” In one airy wave of his hand he dismisses the American blood spilled by the Bush administration in the Middle East.
He spanks the President for the usual litany of foreign policy failures. Meanwhile, no American troops are dying in fly-specked desert hell-holes.
His 15 minutes are up.
Katrina had its Michael Brown. Iraq’s “Brownie, you’re doing a helluva job” award goes to Paul Bremer. Bremer, Bush’s envoy to Iraq during the occupation, learned nothing from America’s reconstruction of our defeated enemies after WWII. Swanning around in his desert boots, Bremer demolished the power structures of Iraq – leaving a power vacuum eagerly occupied by all manner of violent men.
“I’m Paul Bremer. We’re going to do it my way. If it doesn’t work we’ll blame the next guy.”
He crushed any good-will spawned by our liberation of Hussein’s oppressed, and he took away the livelihood of thousands of Iraqi security forces.
But his disastrous spell in Iraq hasn’t disqualified him from uttering inanities to the media. He has even gone so far as to suggest that America needs “boots on the ground” – again. Haven’t enough Americans died ‘Bremie’?
John Bolton – his motto, “I’ve never found a Muslim I wouldn’t sacrifice someone else’s child to kill” – has also offered his “wisdom”. Not abashed by the results of toppling one middle-eastern strong man, he now says that it is in America’s strategic interest to topple the ayatollahs in Iran. Dear God man – stop trying to blow things up. It doesn’t work.
We may not like Iran or the men who lead her. But they at least have skin in the game and an actual country to maintain. They aren’t suicide bombers.
“Bomb, baby, bomb.” – John McCain.
John “get off my lawn” McCain is hot to get it going. “Bomb early, bomb often” is his devout wish. While it will no doubt make him feel good, I have no idea what he thinks it will actually achieve. ISIS doesn’t fight with massed tank brigades, while carrying big neon signs saying “Bomb Here”. McCain learned to fight the Soviet Union at Annapolis in the 1950s and cannot seem to get his head around the modern enemy.
Paul Wolfowitz – Bush’s Deputy Secretary of State; so called “architect of the war on Iraq”; and famous prognosticator that the Iraq war would pay for itself – is back demanding that the US cleave to an open-ended commitment to Iraq. Just like South Korea.
He might have a point if Iraq where an ally fighting another country. But exactly where would he put this desert DMZ?
Bill Kristol, a delusional fan of the war on Iraq - “American and alliance forces will be welcomed in Baghdad as liberators” – is now ignoring Bush’s adventurism to promote Obama as responsible for the Iraq imbroglio.
“See, not a drop of blood on them. Wasn’t my fault. Don’t blame me. It’s the new guy.” – Tony Blair
Even Bush’s transatlantic poodle is yapping. Tony Blair has posted a letter to his website denying that his eager acquiescence to the Bush follies has any part in today’s disintegrating Iraq.
The list goes on – but you get the point.
There is one conservative that has had an epiphany on Iraq – Glenn Beck. He announced on his radio show – in regards to going to war with Iraq – “Liberals, you were right. We shouldn’t have”. Credit where credit is due.
If you had hoped that the nightmare that is Iraq would have finally convinced the neocons – and their fellow travelers – that war is stupid, expensive, and kills a lot of Americans for no reason, you will be disappointed.
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