Gymno

succumbing to peer pressure

Friday, April 16, 2004

Damn. I just might have to start reading a lot more of the WaPo on a regular basis. The conclusion of a great editorial by E. J. Dionne Jr., as pointed out by atrios:

Now Bush has the nerve to say that those Americans concerned that Iraq might turn into Vietnam are giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The Vietnam analogy, he said Tuesday, "sends the wrong message to our troops and sends the wrong message to the enemy."

No, Mr. President, what sends the wrong message is when our country doesn't put enough troops on the ground in the first place to do the job right. It doesn't help that you were unwilling to make clear in advance that bringing democracy to Iraq would involve a long struggle and a great expenditure of American treasure. It doesn't make our troops more secure for a president to divide the country by trashing his critics as unpatriotic. And it doesn't build support for a great experiment in democratization when the president fails to explain how he is going to win the thing.

I actually agree with the president that it's good Hussein is gone, that it would be a great thing to bring democracy to Iraq, that it would be a disaster if this venture fails. But if we fail, the fault will not lie with Bush's opponents. It will lie with an administration that thought it could pursue a series of radical theories all at once and not worry about the impact of reality on its plans. If Bush wants his war to succeed, he owes the country more than he offered this week.


Aight, that's all for me for a bit. I'm off to Pittsburgh tonight, Wheeling in the morning, and Nate and Reen's wedding tomorrow afternoon! Congrats to Nate and Reen! See you kids later...

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