The Surge

I guess that George Bush's new impersonation is that of a "reflective man" who considers all options, really listens, and consults all available sources before pronouncing a decision. The underlying reality is that he's still the careless, none-too-bright goof-off who shoots from the hip and has an amazingly clueless grasp of the facts.

We'll hear soon about how another $100 billion and 20,000 troops will accomplish in Iraq what the previous $300 billion, 140,000 troops and 4 years could not accomplish. The situation will continue to deteriorate, of course. A different sort of battle is now raging in Iraq, for control of the country, and the United States is simply caught in the cross-fire. 20,000 troops will simply enrich the target environment.

I wonder sometimes where George got his original ideas about Iraq. I firmly believe the accounts that he did not know there were Shia and Sunni factions in the country before he launched the attack. He reportedly said, on being so informed, that he "thought they were all Muslims." It is a trenchant comment on the state of the Union that such a numbskull could have been elected President. All by itself, such a revelation should frighten thoughtful Americans to their core. His ideas seem transmuted from Dick & Jane books to the world of international relations. Everyone loves freedom, he thought; democracy is the best system; get rid of the tyrant, and the rival factions will put aside their 1,400 year old prejudices and work together to be just like America.

I think that's it, sum total, no refinements or embellishments needed. Syllogistically, it went like this:

All people love freedom and democracy, given a chance.
The Iraqis are people.
Therefore, the Iraqis will become freedom-loving democrats after we give them a chance.

I can see Bush in the Oval Office writing this out in block letters with a No. 2 pencil on a yellow legal tablet Harriet Miers placed there for him. He writes slowly, pressing hard on the pencil. The time is late fall, 2002, and the light coming through the big windows is dimming. It's almost time to quit (4 pm) and go have a diet Coke and pretzels in the residence. George's clever deduction will be filed for him by his secretary in the Presidential papers. A good day's work for George. He's figured out why his plan is right, and he did it in a way that did not involve a lot of egghead, think-tank, overly-detailed baloney, all that talk about "culture" and "theocratic tendencies." The problem was simple. It is obvious to George that someone screwed up his perfectly reasonable plan, because the analysis was flawless.

That's actually what happened. That's what our leadership in Washington is now like. This guy was elected not just once (well, maybe just once), but twice. By Americans. You think maybe something is wrong somewhere?