THE INCREDIBLE UNCREDIBLE BUSH

by Steve Young

"War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much."

- George W. Bush, March 19, 2008

Wow. Can NO LONGER credibly argue?

So their argument WAS credible up till now.

Sure the President meant to tout the Surge "success," but it seems that he inadvertantly let the toxic Iraqi mismanagement cat out of the bag.

On the fifth anniversary of a war that this President now admits, that those who questioned what he and his cronies had been touting for at least the first four years -- that things in Iraq were going swimmingly -- were right. That those who the talk show Lords of Loud had called Defeatocrats and underminers of the military were, in fact, "credible."

WE WERE LOSING.

For those who, like Bill O'Reilly, who has asked for proof that the President had lied, now have it. From his own mouth. For the first four years, he was LYING.

It follows that if the President is not lying now and my math is right, it means he lied for 80 percent of the war.

What would you call a person who lies about something 80 percent of the time?

But even if he is telling the truth now, it's a truth that is nauseatingly repulsive.

"No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure, but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq."

Mr. President, are you calling your wholesale mismanagement of this war makes all the lives and treasures lost still "necessary"? How about criminal?

What a colossal insult to those soldiers and families whose losses were "necessary"; to those countless Iraqi civilians who lost lives and livelihood.

Cold beyond words. Beyond his own words.

March 19th means different things to different people. To those looking forward to Spring vacation, March 19 is the last day of the winter. To Hungarians, March 19 is the day that German forces occupied Hungary. To hotels and gamblers anonymous, March 19 is the day wagering was legalized in Nevada.

And, to some, it means President Bush's deadly gamble in Iraq has droned on for five horrific years.

Five years and nearly 40,000 wounded (Pentagon #s) Americans.
Five years and nearly 90,000 Iraqi civilian deaths (Pentagon #s).
Five years and nearly 5,000,000 (35 percent) Iraqi children are orphans.
Five years and nearly 4,000,000 Iraq refugees.

What might be the most difficult number to grasp is that on March 19th at a cost of $3,000,000,000,000 (the Bush Administration said it would run about $50,000,000....Hey, what's six zeros?) to find 0 weapons of mass destruction (Pentagon #) and 0 Iraq and Al Quaeda connections (Pentagon #), we have suffered nearly 4,000 American soldiers' deaths. Not numbers. Men and women.

And on this March 19th, our compassionate conservative president said that it was all necessary.

Wow.