The Snub as Policy

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THE ARMCHAIR CURMUDGEON

February 18, 07

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Question for the day:



Why does Bush look like he’s going to go forward with his program against Iran no matter what Congress says?



Answer 1; Congress has shown no-teeth and looks like no threat



Answer 2: The sharp-elbowed former cheerleader is used to getting his own way



Answer 3: He knows Iraq is going anywhere and he needs to look presidential





Answer 4: He needs to distract Americans from what’s going on and figures that his big successes have come from Shock and Awe scenarios before the reality sneaks in



Answer 5: He has an obligation to friends and family to keep republicans in office…





The answer is probably some combination of the above inasmuch as they all have some resonance considering Bush’s present predicament and the very real real prospects that “the surge” may just go crashing down as simply another failed policy; for, after all, if it were so necessary to add more troops to the mix, why wait ‘til now? .



Bush has also proven to be contemptuous of weakness and exceptionally stubborn in his ways. He sees in Congress’ attempts to hold him back with a “nonbinding resolution” something that might be considered laughable if so many of his own party weren’t engaged.



He also may truly believe that the Iranians are the cause of all of his troubles and that he seriously does need to consider taking them out to assure a better result from his new policy in Iraq.



However, according to informed military sources, this is misstating the case since the impact of the Iranians is estimated as much less than Bush suggests and that the real cause of American deaths is due more to Sunni attacks on Shia’ and vice versa…



In any event, what we are witnessing now seems more redolent of our four year old misadventure in Iraq and the reasons given for it.



In the end, the president does make the final decision and in the absence of a strong hand from congress can just ignore them until the clock runs out. And that may just be the case. The question then becomes will the democrats have blown their chances and fade again into the background.



Les Aaron

The Armchair Curmudgeon