Dr. J.’s Short Shot No 14: Who is Delusional About Iraq?

Bush appears to be delusional about Iraq, at least in public. At his Dec. 20, 2006 news conference he said that the U.S. needs to increase the overall size of the Army and the Marine Corps (when neither service can presently meet its recruiting goals). He also said that insurgents in Iraq thwarted U.S. efforts at (quoting here) “establishing security and stability throughout the country” in 2006. These (quoting here) “enemies of liberty … carried out a deliberate strategy to foment sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shia. And over the course of the year they had success.” He announced that the Selective Service would be running “tests” at some time in the future related to reinstating the draft. He also pledged to work with the new Democratic Congress. Further, he announced that first four of the 20-30,000 additional US troops to be sent to Iraq would be his two daughters and his niece and nephew, all, it happens, of draft age, were the draft to be reinstated as Bush has said it might have to be (only kidding!).

It seems that Bush has decided to send those additional 30,000 troops, in a “surge” to do something (although exactly what has not yet been announced). So why 30,000? Not that we have them to spare without recycling and extending tours, but why not 50,000, or why not 20,000? Since President “I-always-listen-to-my-Generals-and-make-my- military-decisions-based-on-what-they-tell-me-except-when-they-don’t-agree-with-what-Dick-and–I-have-already-decided-to-do” Bush is obviously not listening to his military Generals, who is he listening to?

Well, this one has the fingerprints of General “I change Constitutions” Rove (The Guardian (UK) Nov. 25, 2004, Sidney Blumenthal) all over it. Militarily it makes no sense, so the generals tell us. Politically it does, for the Rovian politics of always attack, never defend. This move is clearly intended to put the Democrats, not the Iraqi insurgents, Sunni, Shiite and other, on the defensive. Bush wants to appear to be “doing something,” to “be in charge,” and surely to be in a position to be able to blame the Dems. for any failures, as he defines them, should they somehow block the 30,000. His talk of the draft is of the same nature. The buck never stops on his desk, and if he can kick it onto the desk of an enemy, and for him the Democrats are just as much enemies as are the Iraqis, so much the better.

In his superb history of the Era of Georgite Propaganda, Frank Rich (The Greatest Story Ever Sold), repeatedly makes the point that every major decision about the Iraq War, from the occasion the invasion was publicly announced to be timed with the 2002 election, on to, as Rich puts it, the point when (p. 222): “[the] administration was forced into rebuilding Iraq,” it would, he said further “time every pivot point, from the creation of a constitution to the scheduling of elections, to deadlines dictated by Rove’s political goals at home (whether a State of the Union speech or a domestic election), rather than to the patience-requiring realities of forging a post-Saddam government.”

And so, it is not Bush, but the Democrats who are delusional. Delusional about Bush, that is, if they cannot see this for what it is: a naked political ploy.

This article originally appeared on BuzzFlash on Fri, 12/29/2006 – 10:35am. http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/jonas/039

“DR. J” is a nom-de-plume for Steven Jonas, MD, MPH, a Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University (NY) a weekly Contributing Author for The Political Junkies (www.thepoliticaljunkies.net), Contributing Editor for The Moving Planet Blog (http://www.planetarymovement.org/), and a Columnist for BuzzFlash (http://www.buzzflash.com/).

Note to the reader. The previous 13 in this series can be viewed at: http://shortshot.wordpress.com/