Saturday, January 6, 2007

Bush to Pass His "Baton of Failure" in Iraq

Many political observers, including myself, are of the opinion that George Bush's intent is to deliberately burden the next president with the weight of his political mistakes so that the blame for failure in Iraq can be assigned elsewhere -- to the next president and not to him. To any serious student of George Bush, this is just one more manifestation or example of a serious character flaw that surfaces when he is confronted with or challenged by unwanted or undesirable consequences of his personal actions or behavior. His entire life has been one of escaping personal accountability, in many cases through the explicit assistance and help of others -- his enablers. Unfortunately, it appears that he never really learned how to deal with his mistakes in a manner that would foster personal growth and build character. The consequence to the United States of this personality deficiency or character flaw has proven to be monumental and tragic.

What I find most disturbing is the apparent fact that this president is willing to go so far as to be willing to sacrifice more American lives on the battlefield in Iraq just so that he doesn't have to make a personal admission of failure. His personal ego is more important in his mind than the actual lives of our sons and daughters -- of our men and women in uniform. This is outrageous and points to a clear and undeniable lack of leadership, both moral and otherwise.

There have been recent reports in the media that some in the Bush administration have privately acknowledged that the war in Iraq is lost -- that it cannot be won militarily, that only a political solution should now be pursued to achieve some level of political stability in the region. If this is true and Bush's subsequent actions are merely to prolong the Iraqi engagement until he can pass his personal baton of failure to the next president, then Congress must once and for all take it upon itself to hold this man accountable for his actions and misdeeds by forcing closure on this colossal mistake. Congress must do what others were apparently reluctant or unable to do during Bush's formative years: force Bush to acknowledge his mistakes or errant ways, demand a sincere apology, and take appropriate corrective measures to ensure that such irresponsible behavior is not repeated. In other words, George Bush must be publicly scolded and held to account.

It is incumbent upon Congress not to be another in a long line of Bush enablers by forcefully taking a strong leadership position in this matter so that America will not be made to needlessly suffer any further as a consequence of yielding to this man's ignorance and personal flaws. For to do otherwise would be an act of tacit compliance in helping to perpetuate this crime against America and, let us not forget, the Iraqi people (who clearly have suffered the most).

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