No, this is not an April fool joke (the headline, not Bush).  George W. Bush, in his fruitless effort to make something of his presidency, is on the road trying to flex his foreign policy muscles.  Why just last week he invited former soviet states Kiev and Georgia to become NATO members.  He gave a singing endorsement that the US would not oppose such a membership, thereby pissing off the rest of NATO.

On it’s face it seems to be a nice little gesture, but as usual he speaks before he thinks.  No that the US has such a dastardly reputation, when you are invited to join NATO, you are invited to be occupied by the US.  The rest of NATO does not think it is a good idea.  If fact, George’s buddy, Putin (dictator of Russia), said if Kiev and Georgia become members of NATO and host the US, he will point his nukes at them (see CNN article).

CNN reported, US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, just "loves" the reporters at the Fox Network.  Rice was overheard a couple of days ago on an open mic between television interviews saying of Fox News correspondents:

 My Fox guys, I love every single one of them.

 

Last March the Smoking Gun got a hold of a document from Dick Cheney’s travel entourage that demands all TV’s in his hotel room be tuned to Fox News.

With the pleas for non-partisanship and peace still ringing over Washington, Bush aides announce today that he will completely ignore the will of Congress and the American People and send more troops to violence-ridden Iraq.

Bush decision also come on the wake of a Democratic Congress announcing they want to vote on a troop increase.  Bush’s need for more troops is not based on any rationality, but on Bush’s desire for revenge and control until the very end of his failed administration.  He sees the stance of Nancy Pelosi ("We will not be swiftboated on these issues") and Ted Kennedy (introducing legislation to block funding of additional troops) and Bush refuses to yeild to common sense.

Bush’s claim that he is responsive to what his generals in the field want is a farce.  Because General George Casey disagreed with Bush’s military wishes, he went shopping for another General that holds his point of view.  Insightfully Bush went to the person who was in charge of the failed mission to train the Iraqis to take charge of their own country, Lt. General David Petraeus.  Desirous of a promotion Petraeus agreed to support Bush’s position.  In return Bush promptly promoted him to General and put him in charge of Iraq.  Now when Bush pulls his string, Petraeus says, "More troops.  More troops.". 

You’re doing a hell of a job, Petraeus. 

After four years of a floundering war, hundreds of billions of dollars, and thousands of young American and innocent Iraqi lives lost, Bush is going on television tonight to try to convince the American People that more troops thrown on top of a bad war is a good thing.  It should be an interesting show.

It’s hard to believe.  Just when we need an additional 30,000 troops in Iraq, Bush bombs Somalia today in an effort to kill 3 suspected Al-Aqada men.  In the mean time he killed about 22 to 27 people.

Canada reports that Bush’s hasty strike may have killed 3 Canadians. Good job, B.

 Italy is not too thrilled with the hasty air strikes, either.  According to the BBC:

But Italy - the former colonial power in central and southern Somalia - condemned the US strikes.

Italian Foreign minister Massimo d’Alema said Rome opposed "unilateral initiatives that could spark new tensions".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed "concern" that the air strikes could lead to an escalation of hostilities.

 Most of the European community has condemed Bush’s strike and claims it could lead to the destabilization of Somalia.  Usually when you bomb the crap out of a country, that’s what happens.

The evil, fork-tongued Robert Novak of the Chicago Sun Times reported today:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has gone public with criticism of President Bush’s Iraq policy, is caustic in private about the proposed ‘’surge'’ of 30,000 additional U.S. troops.

Powell noted that the recent congressional delegation to Iraq headed by Sen. John McCain heard from combat officers that they wanted more troops.

‘’The colonels will always say they need more troops,'’ the retired general says. ‘’That’s why we have generals.'’

A footnote: Senior Republican senators are trying to get word to the president that any troop surge would be dead on arrival in Congress.

When the breeze blows another way, Novak is there with the wind in his face. 

Do you ever wonder how the US Army is going to come up with the 30,000 surge in troops that Bush wants to send to Iraq?  The draft?  No, this is our crack military’s answer to increasing the number of troops:  send letters to 275 officers killed or wounded in action urging them to return to active duty.  CNN reported:

"Army personnel officials are contacting those officers’ families now to personally apologize for erroneously sending the letters," the Army said in a brief news release issued Friday night.

The Army did not say how or when the mistake was discovered. It said the database normally used for such correspondence with former officers had been "thoroughly reviewed" to remove the names of wounded or dead soldiers.

 Did they forget that soldiers die and are wounded on a regular basis?  Let’s rotate the recruiters out there for a tour.

President Bush want to put in a "surge" of 9,000 to 30,000 troops into Iraq in order to increase his chances of controlling Baghdad and Anbar provinces.  Bush’s objective is to win the war at any cost.  What does a win mean to America?  Absolutely nothing, but Bush gets his vindication (but I digress to the obvious).

The Dems have told Bush in a letter Friday that they oppose a surge in troops under any circumstances.   They want any increase in troop levels to be approved by Congress.  What a concept in democracy, eh?  The Dems say that any increase in troops would lessen the time Iraqi leaders will take to actually control the country themselves.  Common sense and bi-partisian debate…how refreshing.

While all this posturing is well and good for America, lets reveal the escape plan for the Bush Crime Family.  When the Dems force the US out of a war started by a selfish wanna-be dictator, they will claim they could have won if it were not for the Dems stopping the fight.    Bush has no real plan on what the military will to do with this "surge" - he just want to set up his own exit strategy.

Last week in a hasty mannor, Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging.  There has been very little said about the fact that the US appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, made a political promise to execute Saddam before the end of the year.  It does smack of a conspiracy to cover up the fact that Saddam gassed the Kurds with weapons supplied by a US Republican Administration.  The following is from a Pakistani news paper, the PakTribune.com: 

The stupidity of the Baghdad puppets beggars belief. First, they commission a kangaroo court which refuses to consider charges relating to the invasion of Iran in 1980, or the gassing of the Kurds or any other event in which the Western powers were complicit.

The farcical trial itself allowed Saddam, in the eyes of the mass of people in the Middle East, to replace the humiliating image of his capture with him as the confident accuser from the dock. The perfunctory dismissal of the appeal and the dossier of complaints from international jurists only added to the perception of justice.

As Bush gets his lilly-white, Texas ass spanked by the Iraqi insurgents, he has found himself within a rock and a hard place.  In an attempt to quell the Iraqi civil war, Bush must kiss the ring of the "axis of evil" leaders.  The BBC reported today that there is a much-rumoured leak that the US needs to engage with Iraqi neighbours Iran and Syria to enlist their support for ending the insurgency.

The Iraq Study Group (ISG) co-chair,James A. Baker, III, said last October (before the elections….):

(Baker) expected the panel would depart from Mr. Bush’s repeated calls to “stay the course,” and he strongly suggested that the White House enter direct talks with countries it had so far kept at arm’s length, including Iran and Syria.

“I believe in talking to your enemies,” he said in an interview on the ABC News program “This Week,” noting that he made 15 trips to Damascus, the Syrian capital, while serving Mr. Bush’s father as secretary of state.

“It’s got to be hard-nosed, it’s got to be determined,” Mr. Baker said. “You don’t give away anything, but in my view, it’s not appeasement to talk to your enemies.”

 Bush is not prepared to do the right thing.  He still insists that the US can win and that he has been chosen by God to lead the greatest country on earth.

Remember when Bush had to use a recess appointment to get the evil John Bolton appointed as the United Nations Ambassador?   You remember - the guy that bullied his underlings and generally treated folks like crap?

Bush used his presidential power to appointed Bolton in August 2005 while the Senate was in recess. With that sneaky move Bush was able to appoint Bolton without Congressional approval.  After that appointment on Boltons first day of work, he was boo’ed by the public on his way into his new office in New York.  If the people don’t approve, who gives a shit?

Friday Bush received Bolton’s resignation letter.  Bush said he was “deeply disappointed” that a “handful” of senators had blocked the appointment. 

A "handful"??!  That was last August.  After the November elections, Bolton knows there is much more than a "handful" to deal with so he does what Republicans do in the face of a real challenge - Bolton turns tail and runs.  Subpeona power can be intimidating.

First Rumsfeld, now Bolton.  This is the begin of the long, slow, slide of Bush down to the dredges of truth and humiliation.

I wonder if Barbara will bother to pollute her beautiful mind with all this angst generated from her offspring.