CEO Bush bankrupts USA
CMO Petrious, COO Cheney say they were following orders.
Would You invest in George W, Inc.? (hint, you have).
Tonight -- George W. Bush is beginning a new campaign. It's his 2008, 'who gets left holding the bag' strategy. He's got it all figured out. 14 months and a few days. He's just got make sure that he's leaving every significant decision about Iraq unresolved until after the election. Then, whatever happens, it won't be on his watch.
When General Petraeus stood in front of Congress and with a straight face said he couldn't provide any specific information about when we would be out of Iraq, the Democrats were reasonably incredulous.
And why not.
With a $9 billion per month payroll. And a predictable and priceless cost in lost lives and generations of pain and anguish, asking for a projected end seemed reasonable. But Petraeus, seeing the bind that those before him found themselves in -- when they'd played along and promised that victory was 'just around the corner' -- was no fool.
Yet there are some dates that are assured.
On November 4th, 2008 -- American's will elect a new President.
On January 20th, 2009, the new President of the United States will not be George Bush.
And yet, what both the Democrats and the republicans have made clear is that whoever that man or woman is - little will change quickly.
Why?
Because, anyone who's ever run a company, had a job, or coached a Little League team knows -- it's impossible to achive goals that don't exist. Imagine coaching a ball team in a game that has an endless number of innings. Or imagine if there was no way to keep score. Or if all the players on the field played for both teams and didn't wear uniforms.
The is no goal in Iraq. There are no rules, and therefore winning isn't an objective. It's just another one of the Administration's empty slogans.
Petraeus is another in a long line of Military leaders to sign up to be the fall guy for George Bush's apoclypic war without end. But he didn't take the bait.
There's another date we're pretty sure of. The date that General Petraeus will leave Iraq.
If history is any judge, he'll be out within the next six months, certainly within a year. Having done his 'duty' -- having foisted a troop escalation upon the nation and the congress with the brilliant marketing of a 'surge' he's got little more to do. He's said we can't win. And he can't much enjoy standing on what will be the last battlefield of his Military career watching young men and woman die for a cause that he can't define, with an objective he can't name, and with an end that stretches out beyond the horizon.
His career is over.
He joins a long list of people who've fallen on their sword for this Commander-In-Chief.
-Gen. George W. Casey Jr.
-Anthony Zinni: commander-in-chief of the United States Central Command in the Middle East
-General Eric Shinseki: The Army's chief of staff.
-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
-John Bolton, US ambassador to the UN
-Gen. Colin Powell
-Zalmay Khalilzad US ambassador to Iraq
Watching the pre-speech coverage on the cable news news nets, everyone seems to know that Bush has determined that all he need to do now is run the clock until he's run out of DC on Marine One. Leaving the war in full roar for his predecessor is really his only option. To begin removing troops now would admit a failed strategy. But if the Democrats -- or the Republicans -- take office and begin the inevitable retreat, then any consequences will be left in the hands of the Man or Woman who is in command. For Bush, there's little to lose. The only possibility is that the retreat will create such utter havoc that historians will write that Bush may have been right to keep us in.
What Bush understands - what he learned from Karl Rove -- is that both the media and the public's memory is so short, that there is no way that we'll hold Bush accountable once there's another elected official sitting in the White House. We can hardly remember who Gonzales is. And Rumsfeld? What about Ashcroft? It's like they're just a distant memory. Hard to remember them, let alone hold them responsible for anything. Heck, they've moved on - why can't we. And so Bush will move on. And once he's gone, elected officials and average American's will be left with a Bankrupt nation to try and rebuild. And in Iraq, well we'll just have to do something - and get left holding the bag.