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The Shocking News: Years More in Iraq John LeBoutillier Remembering – please – that this column is for political analysis, we need to analyze President Bush's surprising announcement at his Tuesday White House press conference that our troops will be in Iraq for years to come and their removal will be up to "future presidents and future Iraqi governments." This pronouncement was, to put it mildly, a shock – especially to his own staff, who rushed out to the media that evening with vague ‘qualifiers' intended to soften the blow. Apparently this is how policy is made in the Bush White House: With no prior discussion with staff and advisers, GW Bush just throws out something totally unexpected – and, frankly, politically disastrous – and then the staff scrambles to backtrack. What a way to run a war! The political effects are wide-ranging: Story Continues Below
1) For the GOP in this year's midterm elections, this will accelerate the breaking away from the Bush White House. There is no appetite in America for years more of the same in Iraq. And most people have already concluded that the War in Iraq is finito, done, finished, over and done with. Few American can any longer believe that a real, peaceful democracy can emerge from the mess in Iraq. 2) Many people had the belief that our mission was winding down in Iraq. Now we are told the contrary: We will be there past 2008 and maybe years beyond. And they are wondering, "Why?" 3) The Bush White House has launched yet another new attack plan: Blame the media for the focus on the bad news in Iraq. Oh, really? Bush's own ambassador to Iraq, Ambassador Khalizad, said recently, "Iraq is close to a civil war." And former Iraqi Prime Minister Alawi, who the White House called in 2004 the "Iraqi George Washington," said that Iraq is already in a civil war. So blaming the media is a dodge, a canard and phony tactic that will not change the dynamic of this now disastrous war. 4) 2008: If we are to have troops still in Iraq in 2008, then that greatly affects the 2008 presidential race. All candidates running for president who supported the war will have to defend that support – and the field will be wide open for a candidate who consistently warned that this pre-emptive invasion was going to be a total disaster. 5) The Establishment: You can already see that there is a growing split in this country on many issues – immigration, the economy, health care. There is a populist wind blowing – and the Establishment sits still, all comfortable, warm and happy – and oblivious to the unhappiness across our country. The president is now viewed by almost 60 percent as not "honest and trustworthy" – a horrendous rating that makes his ability to govern almost impossible. Indeed, we are heading into a rocky period of our political history, when a new grassroots and Netroots political revolution has begun. Make no mistake about it: Between now and 2008 we will see profound, shocking and unexpected political developments. And this will be, in the long run, good for a country that needs to wake up and realize how off course we are today. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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