Abizaid Needs to Go as Well

General John Abizaid testified before both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees yesterday. His testimony proved the old adage that "War is much too serious to be left to the generals"(Attributed to George Clemenceau and others).

In his testimony, the General stubbornly resisted any suggestions by Senators from both sides that a policy change in Iraq is needed. He is in as big a state of denial as George W.Bush, Cheney and Rummy.

Abizaid seems as in favor of "stay the course" as Rummy. His only concession: Put in a few more troops, accelerate training of the Iraqis, and everything will be hunky-dory. Maybe 20,000 for 4 to 6 months should take care of things.

Generals are necessary and vital participants when it comes to short-term battle tactics. When it comes to strategy, the longer-term outlook, their opinions will always be prejudiced toward combat and winning.

It is the nature of the warrior, and if the politicians don't stop him, he'll create more of a mess in Iraq. Most military men believe there is no mission they can't conclude successfully. That is why a skeptical civilian eye is needed to oversee and command the military.

Abizaid has also been co-opted and discredited by toadying to Rummy's wishes and should leave with him. Only yesterday did he acknowledge for the first time that General Shinseki was correct in his assessment that it would take 500,000 troops to occupy Iraq.

We need a fresh look at Iraq. We do not need "stay the course, but hurry it up" as a policy. Abizaid's credibility is as specious as Rummy's. He needs to go.

Fun, Fun, Fun 'til Daddy Took the T-Bird Away

Fun, fun, fun was what Boy George, Cheney, Rummy, Rove and the neo-con-artists were having until George the Elder finally stepped in and had his men take control of his son. The midterms forced the old man's hand, though the Baker-Hamilton Commission was already a precursor of Rumsfeld's departure.

It was incredible to hear that in Bob Woodward's "State of Denial" that the Elder "did not want to interfere" in his son's ruination of our armed forces in Iraq and the Republican majority. To paraphrase: He wanted his son to have a chance to do it himself. What in God's name was that all about?

That is what you're supposed to do when a teenager is learning to drive or your kid is trying to win the soap box derby. It's not what you do when he is running the most powerful country in the world into the ground. Wait and see if he could do it himself? What a pitiable excuse for not taking action before this.

Now, with the appointment of Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, Bush's father has essentially retaken control of the government of the country. Bush the younger and his cohorts Cheney, Rove, and Rumsfeld did not even want the Baker-Hamilton commission formed, let alone to issue a report on Iraq.

To the contrary, yesterday at his press conference, little George sounded like he could hardly wait for the Baker-Hamilton report to save him from further humiliation. There is hope now that, between Daddy and the Democrats, the US will salvage something out of Iraq and start rebuilding badly strained relations with allies.

One thing is for sure. Little George won't really be at the wheel anymore. Daddy took the keys away last weekend. Now Boy George will just be pretending to drive the T-Bird while sitting still in his driveway.

"Stay the Course" is Still Alive after All

I see that President Bush has reported by telephone to radio talk show big, fat, liar, Rush Limbaugh, that he wants Cheney and Rummy to stay with him for the next two years until he leaves office. Rush (the "Tokyo Rose" of the Bush administration) must have approved because he didn't mimic any of Bush's intellectual disabilities (other than his stupidity) on the tape I saw. No arm waving, circling his finger around his head, or rolling eyes.

Does anyone really think that we will be out of Iraq with Boy George retaining Rummy at Defense? Rummy, the very man, who like Bush, cannot admit that he put too few troops into Iraq initially, and continues to refuse to enhance the force, or to draw it down? Rummy, the very man even Republicans want to fire, if only to save their own cushy seats in Congress.

Asked today, Bush said "I don't know" if troops will still be in Iraq by the time he leaves office. Gimme a break. The only way he wouldn't know is if he had a plan top get us out of Iraq. We all know, however, that planning is something George and company don't like to do.

By going out of his way to call Limbaugh to tell him that he wanted the two biggest chickenhawks to stay was code for "I will stay the course, I just won't say it anymore," to the remaining right-wing nuts who remain his political base. Just yesterday, I opined that no politician would use the "stay the course" mantra again. George didn't say it directly, but most people knew what he meant.

He's obviously going to dump this mess on whomever succeeds him. Then he'll retreat to his new multimillion dollar presidential library and try to finish reading "My Pet Goat," without any further interruptions, like terrorists attacks or American and Iraqi death tolls in Iraq.