Bush's Lost Year

[Rhiannon12866]

By deciding to invade Iraq, the Bush Administration decided not to do many other things: not to reconstruct Afghanistan, not to deal with the threats posed by North Korea and Iran, and not to wage an effective war on terror. An inventory of opportunities lost

by James Fallows

I remember distinctly the way 2002 began in Washington. New Year's Day was below freezing and blustery. The next day was worse. That day, January 2, I trudged several hundred yards across the vast parking lots of the Pentagon. I was being pulled apart by the wind and was ready to feel sorry for myself, until I was shamed by the sight of miserable, frozen Army sentries at the numerous outdoor security posts that had been manned non-stop since the September 11 attacks.

I was going for an interview with Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense. At the time, Wolfowitz's name and face were not yet familiar worldwide. He was known in Washington for offering big-picture explanations of the Administration's foreign-policy goals—a task for which the President was unsuited, the Vice President was unavailable, and most other senior Administration officials were, for various reasons, inappropriate. The National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was still playing a background role; the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, was mainly dealing with immediate operational questions in his daily briefings about the war in Afghanistan; the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, was already known to be on the losing side of most internal policy struggles.

After the interview I wrote a short article about Wolfowitz and his views for the March 2002 issue of this magazine. In some ways the outlook and choices he described then still fit the world situation two and a half years later. Even at the time, the possibility that the Administration's next move in the war on terror would be against Iraq, whether or not Iraq proved to be involved in the 9/11 hijackings, was under active discussion. When talking with me Wolfowitz touched briefly on the case for removing Saddam Hussein, in the context of the general need to reduce tyranny in the Arab-Islamic world.

http://www.cpe-sf.com/ruthgroup/downloads/FallowsAtlantic.htm

[Demit]

1. Long article! But good analysis of the utter wrongness of the Iraq war

I still have to finish it, but I've copied & pasted bits that just show so succinctly how horribly bad this admin was, and is, in its decisions.

They have been so grossly incompetent that it strains credulity. The thought enters your head that nobody could be that consistently wrong and still be acting in good faith. It is not much of a leap, then, to wondering whether their plan wasn't to cultivate disaster all along. What horrible people.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. I agree that is quite long, but I thought that it was so on-target

that I couldn't resist posting it. IMO, it sums up all that this illegal administration has done wrong, quite well. I also agree that they cannot have been acting in good faith. I listened to Bob Graham on Al Franken, yesterday, and think he hit the nail right on the head. He said that they pulled necessary resources from Afghanistan, and put them in place to attack Iraq, 14 months before actually doing so. Obviously, they never intended to ask for U.N. approval or wait for the weapons inspectors to complete their job. The sad thing is that this was, according to Graham, the optimum time to finish the job in Afghanistan, which was a legitimate enterprise, capturing and breaking up the terrorist networks that were responsible for 9/11.

But they blew it, in favor of invading Iraq, and Afghanistan has degenerated into chaos and the terrorists there are free to continue their nefarious activities. The war against Iraq, according to Bob Graham, was largely ideological, a fact that Pat Buchanan is also speaking out against, by the neocons, like Paul Wolfowitz, who have hijacked the Bush* administration.

Even Pat Buchanan, a real conservative, is mad as hell that they have gotten away with this. 1022 brave Americans are dead, as well as tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, and the "democratization" of Iraq is a failed enterprise, as it was doomed to be, and for ideological reasons?! And the perpetrators of 9/11 are still on the loose. This boggles the mind. How anyone at all could support this rogue administration, let alone vote for another four years of this is something I just cannot comprehend.:grr:

[Rhiannon12866]

4. I totally neglected to welcome you to DU, wendyvic!!!

I was so focused on your intelligent message, that I didn't pay enough attention to the messenger! I agree with you 100% and welcome you to DU. I am so glad that you found us and am glad to have you with us!!!:hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

14. Kerry finally went after Bush* on this, today,

giving me a good reason to kick this, along with another post of Kerry's amazing speech today.:kick:

[Karenina]

23. Another WELCOME to DU!

Wendyvic! :hi:

If you're as yet unaware, the "plan" can be found at www.newamericancentury.org commonly referred to here as PNAC.

[fizzana]

2. I know it's the comment has been beaten to death on these

boards but this is a must read.

I used it successfully today to turn a Democratic friend who was going to vote for Bush back to supporting Kerry.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Yes, it has certainly been beaten to death,

but I felt that this article, though long, summarized everything very well. I also agree that this is a must-read, because of this. I am so glad that you were able to use this to elicit one more vote for Kerry. We need every vote that we can get. I may print this out. I, too, am attempting to elicit Kerry votes, one at a time. I am working on the undecided and, so far, have my cousin and the guy who cuts my hair. I can do better. Thanks for inspiring me.:-)

[fizzana]

6. What I find to be so frustrating is that the few Democrats I know

that have strayed or are considering straying are doing so because they feel Bush has a better handle on fighting terrorism.

For this I blame the media and even the Democratic talking heads who appear on TV for never posing the question that the war on terror has been diverted into a pointless and disastrous sideshow in Iraq that is only strengthening Al Qaeda.

It's something the Kerry campaign should also be stressing. One of my strayed friends has said that all Kerry needs to do to get him back is to come out and state that he will go after Al Qaeda 100%.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. Bush* is obsessed with TALKING about fighting terrorism

He rarely makes any sort of statement without referring to it. This is the main thrust of his campaign. I think that's the reason that he's managed to fool so many people. But the truth is just the opposite. He never finished the job in Afghanistan. He pulled valuable resources from there to bring to Iraq and the terrorists are free to move about as they please. Afghanistan has degenerated into chaos, once again.

And the same thing is now happening in Iraq. The situation is rapidly getting much worse there, not better. More Americans were killed and wounded there, today. There are more and more cities in Iraq that have fallen to the insurgents, like Fallujah has, yet, the way Bush* talks, it's been a stunning victory. He talks about the "free elections" that are supposed to take place in December and January. How could they possibly hold any sort of elections in Fallujah?! But, again, people aren't paying attention and they are fooled.

He has created more terrorists than he's captured. Iraqis are seething with hatred towards the Americans and nothing is a better recruiting tool than that anger and hate. Even those Iraqis who were actually glad to see the Americans are now royally pissed because the promises that were made were never fulfilled. And the world is now a much more dangerous place, thanks to Bush*'s arrogance, especially for Americans, and, also thanks to Bush*, we are left with very few friends.

And you are absolutely right about the media. They have failed to call him on these colossal blunders and paint an accurate picture, from the beginning. It's starting to come out how truly bad things are in Iraq, since it's just inescapable, but it's far too little, and way too late. The thing that gets me most are the lies. The American people have been repeatedly lied to by this administration and the media has absolutely failed in exposing the lies.

As for John Kerry, he doesn't lie. But I am frustrated with him, as well. He has all the ammunition in the world to take down this guy, but he has failed to make good use of it. And I also blame the media for failing to report accurately about John Kerry. They just want to talk about the swift boat ads. And even Bill Maher is saying that John Kerry's position on the war is the same as Bush*'s. But John Kerry didn't take us to war! Who doesn't get that?! I'm planning to vote for the man and I desperately hope he wins, but I don't envy him, having to deal with the God-awful mess that George Bush* created and is leaving for somebody else to clean up.:grr:

[nuxvomica]

7. A good article that I can use

I have recently discovered that one of my coworkers is a Bush supporter. He thinks this crowd is doing the best they can and that they are better at foreign policy and national security than Kerry would be. I'm going to strike up a conversation with him about these issues and then use this article to gently knock down his beliefs.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Thanks! And good for you! I wish you every success!

How anybody can remain a Bush* supporter in the face of all this guy has done to this country is just totally beyond anything I can understand. But, unlike those of us on DU, people are just not paying attention. The believe Bush* when he says that he is winning the "war on terror" and that we are bringing democracy to Iraq. Iraqis don't want democracy. They want electricity and clean water and not to get shot or blown up when they walk out into the street. As I said, earlier, the media is largely to blame for not calling him on these totally false statements.

As for Bush* on foreign policy?! It was either Bill Maher or Al Franken who said that Bush* is learning foreign policy, for the first time, at the expense of lost American lives. And I know that it was Bill Maher who said that this horror show has just become background noise. More people killed, another beheading, blah, blah blah.

And as for national security, Bush* has made this world a much more dangerous place for Americans. His invasion of a sovereign Arab nation and the anger that it has engendered is the perfect recruiting tool for terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda. Iraqis are seething and other surrounding Arab nations aren't too happy with the U.S., either. Even Jordanians have joined the fight against the invading Americans, and they were our one long-time ally in the region. And his policies have left us with very few friends, even in "old Europe."

Good luck with this! I'm glad that you liked the article and found it useful. Changing hearts and minds, one at a time!:hi:

[AlexHamilton]

9. ...

Great...

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Thanks, I'm glad that you enjoyed this!

And welcome to DU, AlexHamilton! He was a great American. I graduated from Hamilton College, named after him, so I should know.:-)

[salin]

12. Everyone should read this

very well documented, stated points that highlight the real costs of going to Iraq, in terms of national security. Excellent article.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Thank you. I thought so, as well

I that this was both comprehensive and well-documented. But this is a real compliment, coming from you.:-)

[Rhiannon12866]

15. Kick!

:kick:

[GrapplerHK]

16. whered it go?

?

[Rhiannon12866]

19. Where did what go?

The article? I just clicked on the link and it worked just fine for me.:shrug:

[glitch]

17. I just heard Al Franken say James Fallows will be on Air America tomorrow

Thursday on http://www.airamericaradio.com/

[Rhiannon12866]

18. Thank you so much! I have made a point of tuning in

and I sure will to hear what this guy has to say!!!:hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

25. James Fallows is going to be on Al Franken tonight

I'm watching the show on television right now on The Sundance Channel. It's also repeated on Air America radio, starting, I believe, at 11pm.:shrug:

[mhr]

20. Fear Of Flying Explains The Lost Year - It All Fits Knowing This

http://www.legitgov.org/essay_eastman_bush_fear_of_flying_in_guard_092304.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x889877

[Rhiannon12866]

22. Thanks! This is really awesome!

So why isn't this being covered by the major media as headline news, like the CBS story is?! Or Bush* landing on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, declaring victory in Iraq. Surely this is bigger news!:shrug:

[stevedeshazer]

21. Outstanding article!

Long, well worth it. Thanks for posting it.

[Rhiannon12866]

24. You're welcome

I thought it was worth posting, despite the length. I need to print this out to give one of the few people that I know and still like, who still says he intends to vote for Bush*. I just don't understand how anyone with a brain can possibly even consider this. The man has made a wrong decision at every turn and gotten us into serious trouble. We are in greater danger now than ever before, and are left with few friends.:-(

[Rhiannon12866]

26. Kick!

I hope more people will read it, though it's long. I've since seen the author on Al Franken and he's definitely someone who we should be listening to.

[Wind Dancer]

27. I can't get link to open.

[Rhiannon12866]

28. Sorry about that. It must have expired. Here's a new one that works...

http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_14273.shtml

[Rhiannon12866]

29. Kick!

:kick:

[Rhiannon12866]

32. Kick! New Link! Great Article!

:-)

[Rhiannon12866]

33. One more time!

:kick:

[RollergirlVT]

30. Great article Rhiannon

Thanks.

[Rhiannon12866]

31. Thank you. I'm glad that you caught it

I thought it was important enough to post, despite its length. I've seen the author on Al Franken and he is so informed and well-spoken. He is a former speech writer for Jimmy Carter, which my avatar proclaims is a particular hero of mine.:hi: