Helen Thomas: Bush Passes The Buck On War

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Country Should Be Looking For Way Out Of Iraq

Helen Thomas, Hearst White House columnist
May 10, 2007

President George W. Bush still has to learn to say "the buck stops here" when it comes to presidential decisions.

The "decider" and commander-in-chief seems to be trying to pass the buck, particularly if the war in Iraq implodes and he has to bring troops home from his disastrous invasion of Iraq.

The president is counting on Gen. David Petraeus -- the top military commander in Iraq -- and Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki to take the fall if his troop "surge" fails.

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Bush had a 25-minute telephone call with al-Maliki earlier this week after feeling the domestic political pressure following his veto of war funding legislation that called for U.S. troops to withdraw, starting Oct. 1.

Vice President Dick Cheney followed up with a personal visit with al-Maliki in Baghdad, where he told the Iraqi that the U.S. has a dim view of the Iraqi parliament's plan to take a two-month vacation this summer.

Both Bush and Congress have laid down the law to the beleaguered al-Maliki with this message: If his government doesn't pass a law divvying up Iraq's vast oil reserves among the three ethnic-religious groups and if he fails to reconcile the various Iraqi factions, the U.S. just might just pack up and leave.

This is the same Bush administration trying to throw its weight around after destroying Iraq and destabilizing the entire Middle East. But al-Maliki will be there to catch the blame . . .

article: http://www.wesh.com/helenthomas/13294684/detail.html