Now they talk about costs! More WH b.s.

Now, that Bush has finally gotten his war going, he's finally talking about the costs of war in treasure and lives. We've already talked about the $90 billion for one month of hostilities. Now, Ari talks about loss of life:

"Americans ought to be prepared for loss of life," spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

How could they be prepared? The administration and its allies have been saying all along that this would be easy. A matter of days. Mass defections. Smart bombs. Shock and awe.

The president never once said: "We may have to sacrifice the youth of our nation, but their sacrifice won't be in vain because yadda yadda yadda". This was always a video game war where the losers hit "reset" and rise to play again.  

This is all so frustrating. As Sen. Byrd said:

No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. ... Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.

We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance.

[...]

We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason. This is a war of choice.

Back in the White House, Bush's spinmeisters try to convince us that the president is actually involved in the war preparations.

On an anxious day of waiting, President Bush scrutinized final battle plans Wednesday...

[...]

They reviewed the final details for war in Iraq, aides said, poring over weather forecasts and troop positions.

Bush also discussed battle plans by telephone with Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has sent 40,000 British troops to the Persian Gulf.

Is this really necessary? Do we really need to think Bush is running the show? For the sake of our troops, he better not be poring over anything more than a game of Risk.

So we're going to war, but lucky us, we're getting a bonus justification for war, and believe it or not, it's also bullshit!

"United States government personnel operating in Iraq may discover information through Iraqi government documents and interviews with detained Iraqi officials that would identify individuals currently in the United States and abroad who are linked to terrorist organizations," the report said.

White House officials said the assertion was mostly speculative.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon told reporters about a Delta Force team tasked with hunting down and killing Saddam. If these guys are so effective, why not use them to hunt down and kill Osama? That aside, isn't there something rather unseemly about discussing assassination plans?

These guys have given up all pretenses of being a civil people. Bloodlust runs rampant. It's the law of the playground, might makes right.

As Byrd said, "Today I weep for my country".

Posted March 19, 2003 05:13 PM | Comments (51)