If Bush Had Answered Truthfully

Yesterday, during an hour-long morning press conference in the Rose Garden that focused on Iraq and North Korea, the Prez said, “I’m asked questions around the country, ‘Just go ahead and use the military,’” Bush then answered the question that had not been asked by saying, “And my answer is that I believe the commander in chief must try all diplomatic measures before we commit our military.” Continuing his question and answer session with himself, the Prez said, “I’ll ask myself a follow-up…if that’s the case, why did you use military action in Iraq?’ And the reason why is because we tried the diplomacy.” If Bush seems overeager to get these pesky questions out of the way, he is. The President’s minders know that everyone in the world is wondering why the White House so cavalierly attacked Iraq, a weak country that had made no aggressive moves against the US, but is now sitting on its hands regarding North Korea, which has just set off a nuclear test, and which has been hostile toward the US for decades. And the honest answers are: 1) The US attacked Iraq because it was weak and seemed to be a pushover that would quickly succumb in the GOP plans to rule the Middle East and own its oil. 2) Now that the US has lost the war in Iraq, has squandered billions of dollars in its failed attempt to rule the Middle East and own its oil, and has used up its military resources, the US is incapable of waging another war or even protecting itself should a nation attack us. 3) The US pushed aside the world’s pleas to use “all diplomatic measures” with Iraq and instead blundered ahead and started a war without so much as a by your leave from Congress. 4) The US has patently refused to engage in a dialogue with North Korea, much less use ANY diplomatic measures until North Korea announced on October 8th it had detonated a nuclear device. It was then the US had to face the fact that due to the Bush administration’s incompetence and wrong-headed leadership, it had no military to use and would have to resort to diplomatic measures with North Korea. Which decision, of course, has come too late. The prudent thing would have been to bribe both Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-il with outright cash and goods. Bribery would have worked and would have been cheaper than a failed war and having to deal with a pissant despot and his pissant nuclear devices. Outright bribery would not have allowed the US to rule the Middle East or to own its oil. But then neither has our war in Iraq. And we could have negotiated reasonable terms on sharing the Middle East’s oil. If we had bribed Kim Jong-il we could have worked out a deal with North Korea regarding nuclear devices. Kim may be insane, but he’s not stupid. Shaking hands with drug dealing nations and tinpot despots is better than going to war, putting our children and our children’s children into indentured servitude, and weakening our military to the point of nonexistence. But the Bush administration is not about engaging in prudent acts that will keep the United States safe and continue its image as a world-class super power. The Bush administration is about the Republicans staying in power by whatever means necessary. The Bush administration is just one more tinpot despotic regime.