war Iraq

May 2, 2003 9:10 AM

With great fanfare President Bush declared yesterday that major combat operations are over in Iraq. Missed in that speech and probably little noticed by many is the fact that the most difficult part of the Iraq War has now started. Even Donald Rumsfeld has recently hinted that the UN may need to play a role now. Hopefully the administration will heed some of the many lessons from history like this one.
posted by thedailygrowl (16 comments total)

I wonder how many of those hooping and hollering soldiers on the deck of that aircraft carrier knew what Bush is doing to their veteran's benefits..
posted by Space Coyote at 9:14 AM on May 2, 2003

The UN can't play a role until AFTER we plant the WMDs in Iraq.
posted by banished at 9:17 AM on May 2, 2003

Hey, and he gave a shout out to "the prophet Isaiah" too! And when Bush was the co-pilot, was God his co-co-pilot, or was God serving drinks in back?
posted by hackly_fracture at 9:25 AM on May 2, 2003

That's the most flight experience Bush has ever had.
posted by zekinskia at 9:39 AM on May 2, 2003

what i always wonder is, is bush the dog, or the pony?
posted by quonsar at 9:43 AM on May 2, 2003

Rumsfield's definitely a bottom. Bush might be a bottom too. I know Clinton's not the chariot commander.
posted by angry modem at 9:56 AM on May 2, 2003

posted by The Jesse Helms at 10:04 AM on May 2, 2003

That's the most flight experience Bush has ever had.

That's the most combat experience Bush has ever had....
posted by aaronscool at 10:05 AM on May 2, 2003

well, thejesshelms, seems you can't do anything right, can you?
posted by angry modem at 10:11 AM on May 2, 2003

I'm through making pithy comments about the occupation. Simple truth is that I'm going to do my level best (which, pathetically, isn't near enough) to ensure that Bush's role in the next election is to step down and let a real human being be President for awhile.
posted by FormlessOne at 10:12 AM on May 2, 2003

And when Bush was the co-pilot, was God his co-co-pilot, or was God serving drinks in back?

From what I hear, God was busy helping John Ashcroft reinterpret the Constitution at the time and was unavailable for the flight
posted by ElvisJesus at 10:20 AM on May 2, 2003

"I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units...Of the many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal and owe equal allegiance to their country." (Colin Powell's autobiography, My American Journey, p. 148).

No additional word yet from Powell concerning sons of the powerful and well-placed who managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units and then also went AWOL from those slots, or about those well-connected sons who couldn't spare the time it takes to supply a simple urine specimen for flight physicals.

But anyway, hooray for Our Leader. 'Course, he and Dick "Five Deferments" Cheney should have both flown out to the carrier for that golden Kodak moment, as representatives of Chickenhawk Republican military experience/camaraderie.

~chuckle~
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 10:39 AM on May 2, 2003

"But don't tell us this was a triumph in the war on terror, Mr. President. Don't tell us the defeat of a secular dictator has turned the tide against a gang of religious fanatics. And don't talk about patience. You inserted a battle that could have waited into a war that couldn't, precisely because you lacked—or thought we lacked—patience for the slow, diffuse, half-invisible struggle against the people who hit us on Sept. 11. You wanted a quick, clear victory, and you got it. But don't flatter yourself. You haven't changed the world in 19 months. You've only changed the subject."
posted by homunculus at 11:17 AM on May 2, 2003

Compare and contrast.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:37 PM on May 2, 2003

Bush's "Top Gun" get-up wasn't just tacky, it was a reminder of one of the most stunning lies ever committed to print by a presidential candidate.
posted by homunculus at 8:20 PM on May 2, 2003

(sarcasm) I'm so glad that so many people recognize that the presidency really *is* just like an hour-long teevee drama. That each day someone walks into the president's office and says, "Mr President, there's a problem for you to solve", and he solves it and everything is just as it should be except better, and just like it was last episode and just like it will be in the next episode. And of course, like most Americans, the President has never read a history book, so he just lets his *gut instinct* of the moment tell him what's the right thing to do. And of course his advisors never give advice, just moral and emotional support. And he would NEVER tell the public what they want to hear, even if the truth is really, really complicated and would make people bored and change the channel, and wouldn't be understood except by people with a high school education anyway.(/sarcasm)
posted by kablam at 9:29 PM on May 2, 2003