I’ve a bridge to sell him:

President Bush said Tuesday the decision about when to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq will fall to future presidents and Iraqi leaders, suggesting that U.S. involvement will continue at least through 2008.

Acknowledging the public’s growing unease with the war - and election-year skittishness among fellow Republicans - the president nonetheless vowed to keep U.S. soldiers in the fight.

“If I didn’t believe we could succeed, I wouldn’t be there. I wouldn’t put those kids there,” Bush declared. (emphasis mine)

This is symptomatic of a mental state common among Republican loyalists: Pseudo-Patriotic Reality Displacement Syndrome. In laymen’s terms, it’s when someone sees saying of the US that something cannot be accomplished and/or is not worth doing as being a slight against the entire idea of the country. For Bush & others afflicted with this condition, “If I didn’t believe we could succeed” doesn’t refer to belief that the US can through force turn Iraq into a stable, relatively liberal state — which no one in their right mind seriously believes we can do — but to common cliche of american “can-do” attitude — in essence, to say that the war in Iraq is a waste of time, money, & most importantly lives sounds to their ears something like when you tell a small child that there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. The idea that one can say “yeah, hooray for the US and all that, this war is still pointless” is beyond their comprehension.

He also stood by embattled Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. “I don’t believe he should resign. He’s done a fine job. Every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy,” he said. (emphasis mine)

The part of the equation missing here is “what information was used to come to the conclusions written on the paper?” Just like the adage that there are no stupid questions is false, so is the one that there are no stupid plans until they’ve been implemented. The statement that “every war plan looks good on paper”, taken to its logical conclusion, would mean that planning for any military operation is futile, as apparently no analysis could be made other than to just charge out there and do it.

The key problem with US military strategy — besides its unnecessary bigness, that is — is that it’s strong but in a very balls-first way. We’re rather good at flashy explosions & fighter jets swarming like you’d see in some Hollywood big-budget blockbuster, but terrible at the cerebrel, “know your opponent & environment” stuff that doesn’t fetch ratings for Fox News. That’s how we got the current situation: Shock & Awe had its moment, now we’re being bled dry by that old standby Stick&Move.

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