thinkprogress.org— George W. Bush, 4/9/99: Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.
May 1, 2007View in Crawl 4
I guess he could have been asking for a timetable in a non-shooting phase of a very limited conflict as far as the US was concerned. He may have been discussing a different region of the world with different issues. Making this comparison and relating it to Iraq makes Bush's critics look stupid.Bush has done enough for you to criticize and provide your all-knowing, all-seeing, conspiracy-drenched hindsight goodness for the sheep to digg up.
@horatiusIf you impeach Dick first then Bush can appoint another vice president. Then impeaching Bush would get you a president that was never voted on. See Nixon/Ford.
While I don't think this is a simple basis of comparison - I don't see anything defenseable about bush's change in stance then and now. Kosovo was a much more manageable conflict, yet he wanted to pull out... similar to Somalia. At that point, it was all about wag the dog and dogging Clinton's credibility as an extension of the Lewinski scandal. Though it is obviously some politicization on the otherside, there IS no other scandal other than those this president and his administration created since the very day people went ( or were disenfranchised rather) at the polls in 2000 and 2004. If Bush was opposed to a much more manageable conflict such as Kosovo, then what is the logic of continuing an unmanageable (many would rightly say unwinnable) war when the very presence of the U.S. is [excuse the pun] adding oil to the fire?From CIA leaks, to switching focus from Afghanistan to Iraq, abuses at Abu Ghraib, a hasty invasion turned into a nasty occupation, Halliburton setting up base in Dubai, accounting mishaps in the millions, soldiers raping girls and murdering their families, "friendly fire" cover ups, false wmd claims, thousands of iraqi civilians killed- thereby bolstering insurgent recruitment, in addition to soldiers facing extended tours, lack of infrastructure to treat them when they return, and latest polls showing the majority of soldiers' morale is so low THEY want out within a year. Yea, what happens in the Middle East DOES affect the world - and judging from the downward spiral in this administration has created our presence in Iraq has made the world that much worse...I'm not for a pull out necessary - just send all the chickenhawks who deceitfully ill conceived this war to finish out their terms in the same Iraq they claim they were liberating. If they've made so much progress let em' lay in the bed they made.
ummm, DUH? hello? Bush is a republican and he said this in criticism of the Pres Clinton, a democrat. It's still Dems and Reps today. They'll both flip-flop just to spite the other side.
I want me some of this, too.No war for oil!Impeach Bush!Selected not Elected!9/11 was an inside job!Bush and Enron!Cheney and Haliburton!CARL ROVE!!!!!No WMD!Saddam Was a gentle old man!All conservatives are Christian racist wackos!Iraq has nothing to do with war on terror!Bush is Hitler!Republicans are racist, homophobic, etc!Christians are STUPID and should SHUT UP!The Bible is a myth and the Qua ran is a beautiful work!Libs are tolerant!Generic Liberal Comment!Jews are only persecuted outside of Israel!Conservatives want to destroy the earth!GLOBAL WARMING!!!Clinton was impeached over a BJ!B-b-b-but Clinton!NeoconVast Right Wing Conspiracy!CARL ROVE!!!!!!!!Come on DigLibs, you can do better than this.Try forming an argument with thought instead of regurgitating this nonsense!
No war for oil!Impeach Bush!Selected not Elected!9/11 was an inside job!Bush and Enron!Cheney and Haliburton!CARL ROVE!!!!!No WMD!Saddam Was a gentle old man!All conservatives are Christian racist wackos!Iraq has nothing to do with war on terror!Bush is Hitler!Republicans are racist, homophobic, etc!Christians are STUPID and should SHUT UP!The Bible is a myth and the Qua ran is a beautiful work!Libs are tolerant!Generic Liberal Comment!Jews are only persecuted outside of Israel!Conservatives want to destroy the earth!GLOBAL WARMING!!!Clinton was impeached over a BJ!B-b-b-but Clinton!NeoconVast Right Wing Conspiracy!CARL ROVE!!!!!!!!you can do better than that, s**thead.
The problem I have is that there is never, ever, ever going to be a time in Iraq that the major conservative argument, that is "If we leave, terrorists are simply going to overthrow the government of Iraq" won't be a true as a threat. There is always going to be a radicalized, religious conservative element in the middle east that wants to see the democratic government toppled and replaced with some sort of religious regime. That argument seems irrational to me, since it can be used forever to justify this occupation.Iraqis do not seem to be stepping up so Americans can step down, and threats to move troops out is the only way to get them to recognize that they have to a) organize themselves as a government, b) raise their own defenses against radicals, and c) contain the radicalization of their own people. Right now we're sitting in Iraq policing a civil war and acting as an infinite crutch; a crutch that cannot be sustained forever.Oh yeah, and Karl Rove.
lonforceMay 1, 2007
<a class="user" href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Digg_and_the_HD_DVD_Sponsorship">http://digg.com/tech_news/Digg_and_the_HD_DVD_Sponsorship</a>
cautionMay 1, 2007
I guess he could have been asking for a timetable in a non-shooting phase of a very limited conflict as far as the US was concerned. He may have been discussing a different region of the world with different issues. Making this comparison and relating it to Iraq makes Bush's critics look stupid.Bush has done enough for you to criticize and provide your all-knowing, all-seeing, conspiracy-drenched hindsight goodness for the sheep to digg up.
dave11980May 2, 2007
@horatiusIf you impeach Dick first then Bush can appoint another vice president. Then impeaching Bush would get you a president that was never voted on. See Nixon/Ford.
artkitMay 2, 2007
While I don't think this is a simple basis of comparison - I don't see anything defenseable about bush's change in stance then and now. Kosovo was a much more manageable conflict, yet he wanted to pull out... similar to Somalia. At that point, it was all about wag the dog and dogging Clinton's credibility as an extension of the Lewinski scandal. Though it is obviously some politicization on the otherside, there IS no other scandal other than those this president and his administration created since the very day people went ( or were disenfranchised rather) at the polls in 2000 and 2004. If Bush was opposed to a much more manageable conflict such as Kosovo, then what is the logic of continuing an unmanageable (many would rightly say unwinnable) war when the very presence of the U.S. is [excuse the pun] adding oil to the fire?From CIA leaks, to switching focus from Afghanistan to Iraq, abuses at Abu Ghraib, a hasty invasion turned into a nasty occupation, Halliburton setting up base in Dubai, accounting mishaps in the millions, soldiers raping girls and murdering their families, "friendly fire" cover ups, false wmd claims, thousands of iraqi civilians killed- thereby bolstering insurgent recruitment, in addition to soldiers facing extended tours, lack of infrastructure to treat them when they return, and latest polls showing the majority of soldiers' morale is so low THEY want out within a year. Yea, what happens in the Middle East DOES affect the world - and judging from the downward spiral in this administration has created our presence in Iraq has made the world that much worse...I'm not for a pull out necessary - just send all the chickenhawks who deceitfully ill conceived this war to finish out their terms in the same Iraq they claim they were liberating. If they've made so much progress let em' lay in the bed they made.
trojanguyMay 2, 2007
Bush: a retreat-and-defeat cut-and-runner. And whatever else Republicans have labeled Democrats who have been calling for a timeline.
slantyeyedMay 2, 2007
ummm, DUH? hello? Bush is a republican and he said this in criticism of the Pres Clinton, a democrat. It's still Dems and Reps today. They'll both flip-flop just to spite the other side.
pgphilipMay 2, 2007
I'd fight George Bush. I'd get mad credit in prison.
Closed AccountMay 2, 2007
I want me some of this, too.No war for oil!Impeach Bush!Selected not Elected!9/11 was an inside job!Bush and Enron!Cheney and Haliburton!CARL ROVE!!!!!No WMD!Saddam Was a gentle old man!All conservatives are Christian racist wackos!Iraq has nothing to do with war on terror!Bush is Hitler!Republicans are racist, homophobic, etc!Christians are STUPID and should SHUT UP!The Bible is a myth and the Qua ran is a beautiful work!Libs are tolerant!Generic Liberal Comment!Jews are only persecuted outside of Israel!Conservatives want to destroy the earth!GLOBAL WARMING!!!Clinton was impeached over a BJ!B-b-b-but Clinton!NeoconVast Right Wing Conspiracy!CARL ROVE!!!!!!!!Come on DigLibs, you can do better than this.Try forming an argument with thought instead of regurgitating this nonsense!
Closed AccountMay 2, 2007
No war for oil!Impeach Bush!Selected not Elected!9/11 was an inside job!Bush and Enron!Cheney and Haliburton!CARL ROVE!!!!!No WMD!Saddam Was a gentle old man!All conservatives are Christian racist wackos!Iraq has nothing to do with war on terror!Bush is Hitler!Republicans are racist, homophobic, etc!Christians are STUPID and should SHUT UP!The Bible is a myth and the Qua ran is a beautiful work!Libs are tolerant!Generic Liberal Comment!Jews are only persecuted outside of Israel!Conservatives want to destroy the earth!GLOBAL WARMING!!!Clinton was impeached over a BJ!B-b-b-but Clinton!NeoconVast Right Wing Conspiracy!CARL ROVE!!!!!!!!you can do better than that, s**thead.
davidyeahMay 2, 2007
The problem I have is that there is never, ever, ever going to be a time in Iraq that the major conservative argument, that is "If we leave, terrorists are simply going to overthrow the government of Iraq" won't be a true as a threat. There is always going to be a radicalized, religious conservative element in the middle east that wants to see the democratic government toppled and replaced with some sort of religious regime. That argument seems irrational to me, since it can be used forever to justify this occupation.Iraqis do not seem to be stepping up so Americans can step down, and threats to move troops out is the only way to get them to recognize that they have to a) organize themselves as a government, b) raise their own defenses against radicals, and c) contain the radicalization of their own people. Right now we're sitting in Iraq policing a civil war and acting as an infinite crutch; a crutch that cannot be sustained forever.Oh yeah, and Karl Rove.
faithhealerMay 7, 2007
Pile this onto the already mountainous heap of hypocrisy and hubris documented during this administration.