A Little Truthtelling

CBS’s David Martin said on January 5th “military commanders have told Bush they are prepared to execute a troop escalation of just 9,000 soldiers and Marines into Iraq.” A State Department official said, “That’s no surge…it’s a bump”. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) said, “I don’t know that the American people will see the surge as a new direction…the American people want to see a change in direction, not just a change in slogans.” WaPo quoted Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) yesterday saying, "I have reached the tentative conclusion that a significant portion of this administration, maybe even including the vice president, believes Iraq is lost." Biden added, "They have no answer to deal with how badly they have screwed it up. I am not being facetious now. Therefore, the best thing to do is keep it from totally collapsing on your watch and hand it off to the next guy -- literally, not figuratively." The New York Times reported this morning: “Mr. Bush appeared to be trying to head off any confrontation when he invited 13 Democratic and Republican senators to the White House Friday for what administration officials called a “consultation” on Iraq.” Senator Blanche Lincoln, (D-AR) was at the so-called consultation. She said she asked the president where that surge would come from? Ms. Lincoln said the president answered, “That was a very good question.” WaPo’s Dan Froomkin says he sees a possible theme in “the sudden spate of personnel convulsions emanating from the White House”. It’s “a purge of the unbelievers”, Froomkin says. The President’s announcements of his personnel changes certainly do look like he’s kicking the unbelievers to the curb. But what difference will that make when George W. Bush is truly the only one left (with Laura and his dog) who believes in the continuation of his unnecessary war in Iraq? Bush doesn’t know where his surge of troops will come from and according to Joe Biden; Dick Cheney thinks the war in Iraq is lost. Can the White House get any nuttier?