The president's delusions...an ongoing series

Preznit lashes out at his, um, critics?

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 - President Bush issued a stark warning to Democrats on Tuesday about how to conduct the debate on Iraq as midterm elections approach, declaring that Americans know the difference between "honest critics" and those "who claim that we acted in Iraq because of oil, or because of Israel, or because we misled the American people."

Bizarre. Except for a few members of ANSWER and an occasional hyperventilating Hollywood has-been, what lucid critics of the Cheney administration's conduct of the Iraq war are claiming it was about "oil" or "Israel?" As for his third claim, no one has suggested "we acted in Iraq" because they "misled the American people." On the contrary, many of us believe they knowingly and repeatedly misled the American people in order to build support for acting in Iraq. There's a rather crucial difference there. Furthermore, conflating the dubious "oil/Israel" charges with the charge of misleading on Iraq's WMD is an admission that that last charge is sticking and stinging.

And I realize he was speaking to the VFW, but this is ridiculous.

"We have a responsibility to our men and women in uniform, who deserve to know that once our politicians vote to send them into harm's way, our support will be with them in good days and in bad days," Mr. Bush said. "And we will settle for nothing less than complete victory."

It might be helpful if he defined "total victory (expecting him to explain the 'strategy to win in Iraq' is beyond my supply of optimism)." I mean, in the face of beginning the process of drawing down troops in advance of the election (the U.S. Congressional elections) and the administration's decision that they won't spend any more than the current $18 billion, most of which has already been spent on military projects, "total victory" sounds a wee bit grand, doesn't it?