Bush Gives America Finger on Iraq

A defiant and angry President Bush repeated his threat to ignore the wishes of the American people and refuse to pull us out of the Iraq quagmire. He once again showed his contempt for public opinion by saying he would leave the problem of the war to his successor. Apparently, Mr. Bush is of the opinion that he can still achieve success in Iraq.

"...our job is to help them succeed. That's our job. Our job is to help their forces be better equipped, to help their police be able to deal with these extremists, and to help their government succeed....What all of us in this administration have been saying is that leaving Iraq: before the mission is complete will send the wrong message to the enemy and will create a more dangerous world."

Is this the kind of freedom Bush wants to fight for?...

"Iraqi lawyers are being attacked and killed for defending the legal rights of women, according to a report filed by the UN."

Bush is even ignoring some within his own party, like Senator Hagel, who are calling for the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq:

"We have a very unstable Middle East, the most unstable we’ve seen since 1948. You can measure that any way you want. The fact is the future of Iraq will be determined by the Iraqi people, just like it was in Vietnam. The answer in my opinion is not to just keep feeding more American troops into it. The Iraqi people have already made some decisions here. We, in fact, are in probably a low-grade — maybe a very defined — civil war. You’ve got corruption. Everywhere. As bad as it’s ever been. You’ve got uncontrollables that we can’t control. We can’t deal with. Iran probably has more influence in Iraq than we do at this point."

Bush did get some facts right during Monday's press conference:

"Nobody's ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq. I have suggested, however, that resentment and the lack of hope create the breeding grounds for terrorists who are willing to use suiciders to kill to achieve an objective. I have made that case. And one way to defeat that -- you know, defeat resentment, is with hope. And the best way to do hope is through a form of government."