9.24.2004

Bush Dons Rose-Tinted Glasses

Speaking in the Rose Garden today, President Bush and Iraqi leader Allawi had a generally positive outlook of how things are going in Iraq:

Denying he has painted too rosy a picture about Iraq, President Bush said Thursday he would consider sending more troops if asked, but Iraq's interim leader firmly said they weren't needed. With violence spreading, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld suggested parts of Iraq might have to be excluded from elections in January.

Bush and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, standing in the Rose Garden, agreed Iraq is making steady progress despite bombings, beheadings and violence.

"On television sets around the world we see acts of violence yet in most of Iraq, children are about to go back to school, parents are going back to work and new businesses are being opened," Bush said.

"If we stop fighting the terrorists in Iraq, they would be free to plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations," the president said, linking Iraq with the more politically popular war on terror.

...(from Chicago Tribune) "I saw a poll that said the right track-wrong track in Iraq was better than here in America," Bush said.

The president was referring to a July 24-Aug. 2 survey by the Washington-based International Republican Institute that found 51 percent of Iraqis surveyed saying Iraq was headed in the right direction. By contrast, a new Gallup Poll of Americans shows only 41 percent satisfied "with the way things are going in the United States."


Oh, so we've stirred the terrorists up so much that if we stop attacking them now, they're just going to hop over here and do the same things in America that they're doing in Iraq. Excellent strategy, it makes me believe in his vision all the more. Of course, most of America must not believe, since the Iraqi's have a better opinion of their country than we do. Perhaps the most idiotic comments of the day were reserved for Rummy, speaking at a Senate comittee meeting:

Rumsfeld, at a Senate committee, was asked how elections could be held if Fallujah and other restive cities remained in revolt.

"Let's say you tried to have an election and you could have it in three-quarters or four-fifths of the country — in some places you couldn't because the violence was too great," Rumsfeld said. "So be it. Nothing's perfect in life."

Phil Singer, an aide to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, said Rumsfeld's comments were at odds with Bush's upbeat remarks. "For a White House that likes to condemn mixed signals, it certainly is sending out a few of its own," Singer said.


Did I miss the part where it became ok to let just some of the people vote? I'd always been under the impression that all Iraqis would be able to vote in their own election, leading to a "free and democratic" country. But, hey, you gotta break a few eggs, right?
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