There's something deeply disturbing about this New Yorker article:
Current and former military and intelligence officials have told me that the President remains convinced that it is his personal mission to bring democracy to Iraq, and that he is impervious to political pressure, even from fellow Republicans. They also say that he disparages any information that conflicts with his view of how the war is proceeding.Congrats America. You wanted a moral leader-- you got a nutcase who will sacrifice our troops for his own personal crusade.
Bush’s closest advisers have long been aware of the religious nature of his policy commitments. In recent interviews, one former senior official, who served in Bush’s first term, spoke extensively about the connection between the President’s religious faith and his view of the war in Iraq. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the former official said, he was told that Bush felt that “God put me here” to deal with the war on terror. The President’s belief was fortified by the Republican sweep in the 2002 congressional elections; Bush saw the victory as a purposeful message from God that “he’s the man,” the former official said. Publicly, Bush depicted his reëlection as a referendum on the war; privately, he spoke of it as another manifestation of divine purpose...
“The President is more determined than ever to stay the course,” the former defense official said. “He doesn’t feel any pain. Bush is a believer in the adage ‘People may suffer and die, but the Church advances.’ ” He said that the President had become more detached, leaving more issues to Karl Rove and Vice-President Cheney. “They keep him in the gray world of religious idealism, where he wants to be anyway,” the former defense official said. Bush’s public appearances, for example, are generally scheduled in front of friendly audiences, most often at military bases. Four decades ago, President Lyndon Johnson, who was also confronted with an increasingly unpopular war, was limited to similar public forums. “Johnson knew he was a prisoner in the White House,” the former official said, “but Bush has no idea.”
8 comments:
Do you think that any person who believes God has a purpose for his or her life is a nutcase?
If they use "God's purpose" as an excuse to send more than 2,000 Americans and countless others to their deaths, then yeah. I do.
It's not like they were drafted.
Your writing lacks depth and objectivity. The irony is that it demonstrates the naivete you are trying to illustrate... a single minded focus.
Unfortunately most media writers have little more than that to offer thes days.
Adam it is good to see another American that can see bush for what he truly is! For the life of me,after the first 4 yrs of bush & co.I cannot believe that anyone in their right mind would have voted for him again!! But then maybe they didn't(wink)When I see the current events of our nation only one thing comes to mind,history repeats itself,anonymos should do a little research on hitler then compare that with bush!Americans are waking up,I pray someone can change the course of this nation before it is too late!
Amazing...on September 12, 2005 there wasn't an American that wasn't willing to go and get the guys that had dared to enter our country and beat us up. President Bush was a hero when less than a year later retaliation took place. How quickly so many forget!
I think your "single-minded focus" is what shows up clearly in your messages...I think you, sir, "lack depth and objectivity." Morality built the foundation this great nation stands on...and the immorality of men like yourself is what will knock us off that foundation.
Shame on you! Men are sacrificing their lives...willing to lay them down so that others can enjoy the very freedom you enjoy to blast away at your own government. There are more stories of soldiers asking for re-assignments in the Mideast to believe that you have your finger on the pulse of America.
I feel sorry for media hounds like yourself who take advantage of less educated people and spout your personal opinion as fact. Grow up!
Uh... Iraq wasn't the guys that attacked us. Osama and Al Queda were. I, and most everybody supported Bush's strike against them in Afghanistan. What I, and over half the country can't understand is why we let Osama go, why we've let the Taliban survive (they're still attacking us in Afghanistan) and why we chose to devote all our resources to attacking a country with no weapons of mass destruction. And not only that, but we attacked Iraq without a plan to achieve victory. Our president sent our troops to Iraq without adequate body armor and supplies. Congress authorized billions in reconstruction funds but few have been used. I support our troops... I don't support a government that is sending them to their deaths while at the same time, making jokes in the oval office. (On the same day several of our troops died, Bush joked about looking for WMD's under his desk.)
Let's get some leadership that will start turning this thing over to the Iraqis, start forcing contractors to complete their work, and start doing the things we need to do to get our troops home. That's the ultimate goal? Right? Can't we agree on that?
anonyous,Sept.12,2005??? I believe it was a different year!I also believe that on Sept.12,2001 We, as a nation were in shock and responded just as the attackers knew we would respond.In the following years the shock has worn off and Americans are begining to wake up to the realities of what really happened on Sept.11,2001.I agree with Adam,I support our troops,not our gov. or the reason our troops are in Iraq.It's much easier to sit there at your desk and be all patriotic,rather than standing up and demanding the TRUTH!Too many unanswered questions,too many details don't quite add up.
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