Tannishblog

You’ve all heard this by now: (From Reuters )

“The terrorists cannot defeat us on the battlefield,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “The only way they can win is if we lose our nerve. That will not happen on my watch.”

The terrorists, who loom large in the collective imagination of our so-called leaders, cannot defeat us because we’re defeating ourselves. Terrorism and/or its alleged perpetrators have nothing to do with our nations plummeting credibility – not only worldwide, but within our borders as well. As Frank Rich of the NY Times has noted, this was is already over, and we’ve lost. One would expect a paper like the Times to say such things, but a more telling conviction is how the Washington Post hasn’t said a peep to deny such claims.

As for loosing nerve: perhaps that explains why Mr. “Crawford Cowboy” is too chicken to meet with one poor grieving mother. As inferred, such will not happen on his “watch.” It begs the question as to what he’s watching, the dissolution of American credibility or re-runs of Bonanza?

“Withdrawing our troops from Iraq prematurely would betray the Iraqi people and would cause others to question America’s commitment to spreading freedom and winning the war on terror,” Bush said. “So we will honor the fallen by completing the mission for which they gave their lives and by doing so we will ensure that freedom and peace prevail,”

I find it interesting to note how he is more willing to continue to betray the American people under the guise of refusing to betray the Iraqi people. After all, it’s not like he has to worry about re-election. America has failed, on his watch, to spread anything but anarchy, lies and imperialism. So, if freedom is not being spread and the “War on Terror” ™ cannot be won, as is increasingly obvious to even the most devout NeoCon, what reason to stay this disastrous course?

Finally, exactly who are the “fallen” that we’re supposed to be honoring? Perhaps it’s the fallen approval ratings suffered by our “stick to you guns” administration, perhaps it is the future falling out of congressional Republicans who face the very real possibility of becoming used car salesmen, or other proverbial flimflam artists, in a couple years. At least we know they have the skills at hand for their inevitable career changes.

As for our Chickenhawk-in-Chief, well, he can soon enjoy a permanent vacation paid for in full by the blood of Iraqi non-combatants, the sweat and idealism of the American military, and the pain and grief of some of the same people who voted him into office.