Whatever else historians may say about the presidency of George W. Bush, they will likely agree that he was very fortunate in his opponents. Just as Bill Clinton benefitted from the inept, creepy Ken Starr, Bush has had the good fortune to be opposed by the wooden, ridiculous Al Gore and the loathsome gasbag John Kerry.



Likewise, as the "Summer of Iraq" now melts into the Autumn of "We're Staying", one by one the various factions of the machinery assembled against him are self-destructing. MoveOn.org had the misfortune of introducing itself to a large portion of the American public as the guys who personally attacked a soldier that a large majority believe to be trustworthy and competent. The NY Times Dan Rather had the good grace to re-surface with a $70 million lawsuit against CBS. A twofer! Columbia University invites Amadinejad to address students. Beautiful! Anyone heard from Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi lately?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwM0l7GCkHA

Game, Set, Match

I never thought I'd be linking to this guy to agree with him. But I think it goes to show just how completely George Bush and General Petraeus have won. Bush finally found a general who knows how to win this war, both in Iraq and back home.

Imagine, Juan Cole taking the position that the best thing for Democrats might just be for Petraeus and Crocker to succeed! Petraeus is a genius. Somehow, he's gotten Democrats to believe their interests are aligned with those of the country.

Of 9/11, Nutroots, bin Laden tapes, Petraeus, MoveOn.org, and Iraq



It's 9/11, and a Tuesday besides. That's worthy of some reflection, I think. It's been six years. The economy has recovered. We haven't been attacked again. Just for today the partisan warriors should lay down their claymores, clap each other on the back and congratulate ourselves on a job well done.

We've made it. We're all the way back. Six years ago, that was far from a sure thing. Today is a day for reflection, and rememberance, but perhaps it should be a day when we can take some pride in how truly great we are.

Six years ago, we were wounded, but we were together. Today, not so much together. It's a sign of how successful we've been that we actually feel safe enough to fight with each other. I wonder, though, when we get hit next time, will we pull together again, or fly apart like shards of shrapnel?

I read a quote from Colin Powell the other day. Something to the effect of, "They can't change us, only we can change us. They can knock down a building, they can kill a few people, but they can't change America." What an idiot that guy turned out to be. Thank God he's out of the Administration.

I really don't want to see any more buildings coming down, or mass murders of civilians. Even if it would make us popular again! I'd rather be safe and unpopular. Poor Colin Powell. He couldn't decide whether to be loyal or disloyal. So he was both. Now nobody loves him.

Americans are such first-class fighters that we can fight among ourselves and still take on all comers.

I read a few blogs today that re-posted their 9/11 postings. It's striking to remember the information deficit we were operating under. All these horrible things were happening and we had no idea who, what, where, why or for how long. A lot of bloggers really thought it was--guess who?--Saddam.

It took awhile before we found out who did it. And then, no planes in the sky. No stock market for four trading days. Massive infusions of liquidity from the Fed. Trillions of dollars in damages. No, we can't handle a lot of those.

We operate a pretty finely tuned economy. Just in time manufacturing. Lots of debt. Need lots of oil. Bin Laden knows that, which is why he decided to wage war on multiple levels. Kill innocent civilians. Attack our financial and military infrastructure, and leverage our dependence on oil. He waited to strike at a time when our economy was faltering, and then he hoped to collapse us.

I believe he wanted to lure us into Afghanistan, the site of his imagined victory over the Soviets, and decimate us with perhaps a Pakistani nuke, or perhaps just wear us down like the Soviets.

Afghanistan is a brutal battlefield. No one has enjoyed much success there. We did, with a brilliant light footprint strategy, that unfortunately just missed getting bin Laden. I don't know, but I suspect that when bin Laden got to those mountains, I imagine our military said, "No go."

That terrain negates the great strength of the American military-- control of the skies. You can't fly up there in the winter, which means you can't call for air support in a firefight, can't re-supply, can't medevac. Not good to send 5000 troops to their death up there, only to show up tortured and beheaded on the internet.

Time to call a new play. Iraq. Whatever we think we know about WMD and al Qaeda connections now, in 2001 our intelligence believed Saddam had 'em both. We sat by all through the '90's and left bin Laden alone in Afghanistan to disastrous results. How long would we let Saddam fester? Oh, and by the way, bin Laden was gone by December 2001. Preparations for Iraq began in February 2002. Can we please drop the bullshit about Iraq being the reason we didn't get bin Laden?

Zarqawi was already preparing the battlefield in Iraq. It could very quickly become the next launching pad for terror attacks. They've got oil. Most importantly, however, I think someone understood that bin Laden had to fight us there. He couldn't stand by and let the infidels take back Iraq.


That's why the "Anbar Awakening" is so huge. The point was to get rid of Saddam, but also to enlist the Iraqi's as an ally in the War on Terror. It's happening. We're actually starting to achieve the most ambitious of the war aims. What say we celebrate that success?

Speaking as someone who makes his living in the financial field, I can say it's been a harrowing six years. I don't know if most people really understand the jeopardy we've been in.

We're winning. Let's take the night off.

What's Up, Chuck?

The retirement of Chuck Hagel could be a leading indicator of just how dramatically things have turned in Iraq.

Along with Richard Lugar, Hagel is one of the guys the media love to refer to as "widely respected", or "statesmanlike". Any Republican who betrays his own party and president can count on much love from the press.

Geez, a couple months ago he was running for president, now he wants to spend more time with his family? Something's up, and I suspect it is the dreaded facts on the ground.

When will they learn? If you want to kill the king, you have to kill the king.

It's really striking how that stumblebum Bush just keeps winning. And it's amazing how a little accountability can change behavior.

It may just turn out that losing Congress was the best thing Republicans could have hoped for.
The Democrats are not going to enact any of the crackpot netroots policies, because, well, they're crackpot, and the elected Dems know they'll get blamed for the inevitable fallout. The surge will be allowed to run its course, which is about until April. Voters will recognize that Al Qaeda has been dealt a crushing defeat in Iraq. Enough stability will be attained to begin troop drawdowns. Led by Sarkozy, the Europeans will realize, that they have to get serious about Iran and that they are better off aligned with the U.S. than relying on the tender mercies of Vladimir Putin. Wireless wiretapping will continue.

Look for John McCain to start making a surge of his own.

Piers Morgan, the editor who ridiculed Bush for falling off a Segway, has his own fall. Broke three ribs!

Small signs in the universe...

With the undeniable success of the surge, and so many Democrats on the record for various forms of retreat, I'd be careful!