Supporting a (Dangerous) War Time President

[Tom Rinaldo]

America has so far avoided a plague of Locusts. Thank God for George W. Bush.

This President is unrivaled at using worst case scenarios to make himself look good. Here we are, three years after America invaded Iraq, and almost no Iraqis got slaughtered on their way to the polls. We have George Bush to thank for that.

It wouldn't be so bad having George Bush take credit for things that haven't gone wrong in the world yet, if Bush didn't actually believe he deserves the credit. But would anyone be surprised if Bush said something like: "After 9/11, New Yorkers picked up the pieces and went back to work, which is exactly what I asked them to do. And the Statue of Liberty, it's still standing, because we're winning the war on terror" ? It's hard to write a parody that doesn't sound like an actual quote.

So what about Iraq? Almost everything that could possibly go wrong with our invasion of Iraq has gone wrong already. Almost yes, but not quite, which leaves George Bush plenty to still take credit for. Al Quada, essentially non-existent inside Iraq before our invasion, hasn't fully secured a theocratic terrorist free state within it's borders yet. Guess who takes credit for that?

To listen to George Bush is to enter an alternate universe in which everything that's failed so far is inconsequential, while any disaster not yet upon us is a tribute to his leadership, and a result of his steely resolve. The costs America pays for his misguided policies are always well worth it, because Bush doesn't calculate those costs against how little if anything America actually gains, he measures them against how much more we stand to lose in a worst case scenario, one that allegedly can only be averted through Bush's continuing leadership.

Which puts the loyal opposition of patriotic Americans in a quandary. If a disaster temporarily averted only encourages Bush to press on harder with his misguided policies, and they in turn are incubators for untold future disasters, should we root for a worst case scenario now to totally discredit Bush and thereby cut our future losses? It often seems to have come to that in Iraq.

The question at root is, how do you support a dangerous war time President? Traditionally Americans have understood the upside of supporting our President in a time of war. They still do, but Bush doesn't make it easy. When George Bush takes Condoleezza Rice, who as National Security Adviser "couldn't foresee" terrorists using commercial airliners as weapons against us, and rewards her with a promotion to Secretary of State, what can you say? She didn't mess up bad enough and deserves another shot? Has that become the whole rational for the Bush Administration?

It's true there's still a chance for Iraq to pull together after the just concluded elections. It's possible that a full descent into complete chaos, civil war, regional war and genocidal bloodshed can still be avoided. It's iffy but it's possible. That worst case scenario is far too horrid for any sane person to root for. So we desperately seek some salvation, some complex formula that will restore some semblance of peace to that tortured nation, and to us.

Democrats individually differ on that formula, but our goals are clear. We want peace and security. We want it for ourselves and we want it for the people of Iraq. We are willing to make sacrifices, and we are willing to fight, when those sacrifices are for the greater good, and when fighting is the only way to advance toward a goal worth fighting for. Don't question our patriotism, be grateful for it.

It is out of patriotism that we offer advice to a discredited Commander in Chief, mired in a dangerous war of his own making. It is out of patriotism that we do so, knowing full well that any good that is salvaged in Iraq, any disaster there averted, will be wielded like a blunt object against Democrats during the partisan assault already scheduled for the next elections. George W. Bush already made that fact abundantly clear last Veterans Day.

[Tom Rinaldo]

1. I actually wrote this a week or so ago, and things look even bleaker now

I just didn't get around to posting it on DU. Essentially though it still rings true to me, so I'm posting it now as this calender year winds to a close, clearing the decks for a new year that is unfortunately fraught with much peril, but perhaps some hope if Democrats stay resurgent.