“Bush probably would have given a very similar speech.”
Do read the whole thing, of course, but that line was worth highlighting. As is the following:
At the risk of heading into la-la land, I think Obama should have tipped his hat ever so slightly today to President Bush, Sen. McCain, and other Republicans who had supported the surge strategy, naming them and thanking them. Of course, there’s no telling how Iraq would look today had the surge never happened, but it’s likely that conditions would be pretty grim and that this withdrawal plan would have the smell of defeat to it, rather than the opposite, as it does.
Obama could have caveated this to death — “I opposed Bush’s decision to begin this war, I opposed how he sold it to America, I opposed the way he prosecuted it,” etc. But he could have recognized that Bush’s decision to change strategies in 2007 is in large part why the security situation in Iraq has turned around more than anyone could have hoped, why we can now begin drawing down our forces with a good measure of confidence, and why our troops now feel more and more that their sacrifice is worth it.
Not only would this have been magnanimous, it would have been smart politics. It would have acknowledged the bipartisanship that underlies the decision to begin bringing our troops home by drawing an important line of continuity through our Iraq efforts of the past two years. It would have disarmed Obama’s more hawkish critics on Iraq by conceding their point on the surge and turning it into an argument for the drawdown, which it is. And it would have shown Republicans that Obama is committed not just to a bipartisanship of style but of substance — not just being willing to recognize when the other side has valid points, but actually incorporating them into one’s own thinking.
The President should have taken Brose’s advice. He would have found much to praise in the Bush Administration’s implementation of the surge and the counterinsurgency strategy. On this issue, see also my contribution to the Arena.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
what a lark ...
bbrand Sunday, March 1st at 5:04AM EST (link)I am going to go down the street, light a house on fire, fight off the fire departments for several hours then then finally let them in. I am going to grab a hose and even help them put that fire out.
Now, when can I expect my Congressional Medal of Honour for my bravery helping the fire department?
In then real world, like the one where people are paid to lead and make decisions, you do not get praised for correct your biggest mistakes. You are lucky to keep your job in that case.
It’s like those bankers giving themselves bonus’s in spite of the crash. “I should get my bonus because somewhere, somehow, something I did earned me some money”
Asking Obama to praise Bush for finally doing something right after 4 years of first starting this silly war and then totally bungling the aftermath is so far from reality as it can get. Bush and his should hunker down feel lucky he is not hauled before a court.
Btw, I would analyse the “surge” first, and for example see how accepting the ethnic cleansing of whole neighbourhoods is an integral part of the solution. Sorry to rain on your parade.
Can O'worms alert!
Hammer2008 (Diary) Sunday, March 1st at 6:45AM EST (link)brother (?) bbrand, careful how fast you are with your alleged facts. In the process of your commenting, you opened up several weaknesses in your arguments.
Your initial parable is a fair attempt. Go and see TheWatchmen next weekend (as I just got to — awesomeness) and revise the parable as thus:
I am going to go down the street, stop a serial arsonist from lighting off another home and prevent him from mass murder of a measly million lives, give or take, in hopes of preventing the fire from spreading; I’m going to go down there and wipe him out. I’m going to go down there irrespective of whether the neighborhood thanks me or even pitches in to help rebuild the burned out homes or help bury the dead. Sure, I’ll call on the fire departments, but in this “city”, as FlavorFlave sang, 9-1-1 is a joke. At least my family will have my own back while I’m gone, right? They’ll support me while I’m gone, right? Right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GYXm7n62nU
And if you are going to insist on using English spellings throughout on this here American forum, beware. elRushbo must have been talking of your type here (approx. 25 minutes in):
http://www.examiner.com/x-2304-DC-Republican-Examiner~y2009m2d28-Rush-Limbaugh-knocks-them-dead-at-CPAC-Full-Video
p.s. Stop being a nunce there Checker!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Too much noise! “Noise! You’ll have noise enough before long. The Regulars are coming out.” ~ Paul Revere (April 18th, 1775′s eve…)
you are not raining on anyone's parade here bud
kyle8 (Diary) Sunday, March 1st at 7:09AM EST (link)We long ago hashed out all of these arguments on this site. Most of us still feel that the Iraq war was necessary and indeed I believe it was inevitable even if a democrat would have been in office.
And we also agree it was bungled for about three years, but finally put right. You are somewhat correct that the Bush administration should take no pride in their handling, but as for “being brought up on charges” that is left-speak hyperbole and stupidity.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
Thanks for sharing, foreigner.
Moe Lane (Diary) Sunday, March 1st at 8:17AM EST (link)But I think that we can avoid taking the advice of the Dutch on how to handle our internal affairs. Particularly since I’m pretty sure that you typed out “ethnic cleansing” with a wistful look on your face.
Ontploffing.
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For all the claims that Obama is a master politician...
USNJIMRET (Diary) Sunday, March 1st at 9:22AM EST (link)his egomaniacal core prevents him from EVER acknowledging ANYTHING that the previous eight years got right.
Admitting that the surge was a success would also be Obama admitting he had been wrong to oppose it.
And other then the Daschel “screw up”, I can’t remember another single instance where this ‘master politician’ has EVER admitted he was wrong.
Magnanimous
MikeO Sunday, March 1st at 11:10AM EST (link)Mr. Brose made a poor choice of words.
That One could not possibly do anything magnanimous. That One has no soul.
Magnanimous?
rrpjr Sunday, March 1st at 11:59AM EST (link)You might as well ask a jackal to share his food. Magnanimty is simply not in the DNA makeup of the Left,