America: Caught Between Iraq and a Hard Place
In a Washington Post interview a few days ago, President Bush admitted, “we’re not winning, we’re not losing” in Iraq when only two months ago he campaigned before the November elections asserting “Absolutely, we’re winning” with regards to Iraq. The President uttered those very words, which he so desperately believed, in attempting to save the Republicans from election year ruins his administration created. From Katrina to Iraq, the American people had enough of what Bush and the Republican Party represented: a failure to lead America.
What happened? In less than two months time since the November election, President Bush has 
pivoted from vehemently stressing that America was winning to now realizing the nation is neither winning nor losing in Iraq. The President has even said he may not heed the advice of his generals, instead ignoring them at his peril as he pushes a “new way forward” in Iraq, which happens to be the only thing Bush has taking from the Iraq Study Group’s report to date, a nice new slogan. In fact, the people who once supported him are now abandoning him. For example, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in a November TV interview stated, “If you mean by ‘military victory’… I don’t believe that is possible”, while Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has asserted we’re not winning in Iraq either. Even the generals in command are questioning what the next step should be in Iraq.
A story in this week’s Washington Post touched upon a possible disagreement between the Joint Chiefs and President Bush concerning the so-called “surge” option. The “surge” option would increase the amount of troops by 20,000 to 40,000 in Iraq. The Joint Chiefs believe the mission hasn’t been clearly defined by the administration and they assert any increase in troop levels will aggravate an already tenuous situation in the Middle East, thus creating a new recruitment poster for insurgents to flood Iraq and kill American soldiers.
If President Bush decides to go forward against their advice, then it’s sort of like Tom Brady telling Bill Belichick to screw off as he heaves a Hail Mary against the advice of a great coach. It just should not happen, yet the President decides since he is the decider-in-chief. However, Americans are smart people and they’ve come to realize that decision after decision made by President Bush has produced an aura of failed leadership, which America is now experiencing.
Furthermore, Americans overwhelmingly disapprove the President’s handling of the situation and even more so oppose the war altogether. The latest CNN Poll released on December 19, 2006 found 31% of Americans polled favored the U.S war in Iraq, while 67% opposed it. Also, 28% approved of the President’s handling of the situation, while 70% disapproved. Therefore, the question remains… where is America with regards to Iraq? Clearly, America is caught in a situation created by an administration too slow in realizing the failures of its own actions and policies. We’re not winning nor are we losing; yet there is no defined mission. Nonetheless, I’ve asked Santa to give President Bush the leadership skills he is so desperately lacks for Christmas, and maybe a return to reality. Otherwise, 2007 is going be an even worse than 2006 was for 43.
On a merrier note, I would like to wish everyone the best in health and in spirit this holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa and May God Bless America!
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