It took four minutes or so for 9/11 to come up in Bush’s oral report, I mean speech, tonight to the nation on his plan for Iraq. He then went on to say that he and his advisers talked and all agreed that there’s “no magic formula” for ending the violence and getting out of Iraq. Wow, I totally thought that was why he took so long to come out with a plan!
Seriously though, the President predictably offered his usual: that we’re changing course by staying put, and then some. He didn’t use the buzz word of the week, “surge,” but he did say it was a “mistake” not to have enough troops in Iraq to secure neighborhoods. No word on where the increase of 22,000 new troops, five brigades he said, will come from. Given the already stretched armed forces — and the political suicide that would commence with the D-word (Draft) — redeployment, stop loss, and still looser recruiting standards are surely on the horizon.
Bush emphasized that the situation in Iraq was unacceptable to the American people, and unacceptable to him. He also said that failure in Iraq was unacceptable and that the blame for mistakes thus far lie with him. He did not, though, go so far as to say that his own mistakes were unacceptable. I mean, you have to accept some things, right? After all, there’s no magic formula.
