Bush to address nation on Iraq

Oh boy. According to the AP, the number of Americans killed after Bush's crotch-padding "mission accomplished" moment on the USS Lincoln has now surpassed those killed before.

139.

The total of US and Brits killed in the war varies story to story, but it's at least 328.

Indeed, things are so bad, it's forcing Bush to emerge from his month-long vacation to actually defend his FUBARed war.

The president, who is in the last week of an August vacation at his Texas ranch, will travel to St. Louis to make the case for sustained involvement in Iraq despite calls to either pull out or reinforce U.S. forces, and for continued engagement in the Middle East despite new violence that has stalled the peace process.

Events have moved far out of Bush's control. The Neocons thought they could control the situation, but ultimately, the US can do nothing more than react.

Bush's speech is clearly part of a concerted effort by the administration to defend its war performance. Rice took up the theme yesterday:

Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, on Monday said, "The war on terror must be fought on the offense."

"When Americans begin a noble cause, we finish it," Rice told veterans in San Antonio, Texas. "We are 117 days from the end of major combat operations (in Iraq) -- that is simply not very long."

Except that noble wars aren't sold on lies. Noble wars are embraced by the world community. Noble wars don't lead to protracted occupations and vicious guerilla war from a hostile populace.

In other words, noble wars look nothing like Iraq.

Posted August 26, 2003 06:12 AM | Comments (198)