Bush Still Refuses To Accept Reality About Iraq

Bush and Cheney are evidently still unwilling to accept the reality of the situation in Iraq. Bush is still threatening to veto the Iraq spending bill that sets a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. He wants another $100 billion to conduct an unpopular and open-ended war.

Bush says he is willing to talk to Democrats about the bill, but will not negotiate. He says he will not talk about a timetable and will not discuss the extra funding in the bill (much of it concerning improved benefits for veterans).

I have to ask, what is the point of having the talk at all? If he is not willing to discuss any of the points in contention, then the talk would be pointless. But this is what Bush always does. It is how he tries to conduct "diplomacy" as well. He says he is willing to talk, but only if you first agree with him on all points. That's not discussion, negotiation or diplomacy - it's a demand for unconditional surrender!

It's time Bush, and his cohort Cheney, realized that his support is almost non-existent. A huge majority of Americans now oppose our involvement in Iraq's civil war (even if it was started by Bush). A huge majority of people outside this country also agree that it is time we withdrew from Iraq. They consider our misadventure in Iraq to be one of the greatest threats to world peace.

I'm not even sure why he wants to stay in Iraq anymore. It's certainly not to protect the Iraqi people. If that is the supposed reason, then we're doing a very poor job of it. The Iraqis know we're not there for their protection, and they want us to leave.

The Sunnis have always wanted us to leave, and now the Shiites agree with them. This may be the only thing they can agree on, but both groups want us out of their country. The most popular Shiite leader in the country has withdrawn his support of the government in an attempt to get America to set a timetable for withdrawal.

So if we're not there for oil (as Bush and Cheney claim) and we're not there to protect the Iraqis (as the Sunnis and Shiites both believe), then why are we still there? Evidently we are there just to prevent further embarrassment to Bush and Cheney. They know that Iraq will go down in the history books as a black mark against them unless they can either pull off a miracle (extremely unlikely) or pass the problem to a new president (and hopefully the blame also).

Personally, I don't think Bush's attempt salvage his reputation is worth the life of a single American soldier. The Iraqis want us out. The world wants us out. The American public wants us out.

It is time to get out of Iraq!