Hooh-ah

The third anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq is bringing about some odd looks back. One of them is via FAIR, a left-wing media criticism group that amassed optimistic quotes from 2003. Of course, FOX News is overrepresented in the quotations. Try this one on for perspective:

"The war was the hard part. The hard part was putting together a coalition, getting 300,000 troops over there and all their equipment and winning. And it gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but it is not as hard as winning a war."
(Fox News Channel's Fred Barnes, 4/10/03)

My favorite, though, is this:

"Over the next couple of weeks when we find the chemical weapons this guy was amassing, the fact that this war was attacked by the left and so the right was so vindicated, I think, really means that the left is going to have to hang its head for three or four more years."
(Fox News Channel's Dick Morris, 4/9/03)

Hind sight, of course, is 20/20. But it's hard to expect a good outcome when somebody's wearing blinders. Unfortunately, that somebody is our commander-in-chief, and the blinders are still on. Bush spoke about the anniversary in Ohio yesterday. Bush spoke of successes, like the efforts to drive terrorists from Tal Afar. One wonders if he remembers when the terrorists were driven from Fallujah, and then presumably driven from Fallujah again. MeTheSheeple hopes Tal Afar will be more calm.
Bush concluded the speech with a huge, painful non-sequitur:

Americans have never retreated in the face of thugs and assassins, and we will not begin now.

Unfortunately, very unfortunately, that's not quite true. It was even pointed out a decade ago in the declaration of war by Osama bin Laden, who used to have nothing to do with Iraq. The United States retreated from Lebanon in the face of thugs and assasins. The United States retreated from Somalia in the face of thugs and assassins.

It'd be very nice if we didn't have to screw up again. I'd be much more confident in it if Fearless Leader had a clue. The blinders need to come off, and quickly. I'm afraid he's not just vainly trying to delude the American people; I think he's self delusional. Too many lives are at stake.