THE DECIDER DECIDES MOST AMERICANS ARE WRONG

Yesterday George W. Bush vetoed a war-funding bill that would, at last, start bringing our troops home. This is something that the American public wants and has made quite clear to the administration. He ignored the majority of Americans and he defied the majority of Congress when he stamped that big red VETO on that bill. And in so doing, he told our brave men and women of the military that they will be the ones to pay the price of his action.

When President Bush rejected the troop withdrawal plan that was supported by nearly two-thirds of the country, he was not working for the American people, he was protecting all of his bad Iraq decisions. He was trying to protect his legacy.

Back in 2003 the commanders urged Bush to stick to the battle plan in Afghanistan which was to capture Osama bin Laden. They also urged him to forget about attacking Iraq, but the White House ignored their advice and launched a war that has now cost America more than 3,500 lives. Bush now says we must stop listening to the politicians in Washington and let the military commanders run the war.

In a speech yesterday Bush said “Twelve weeks ago I asked the Congress to pass an emergency war spending bill that would provide our brave young men and women in uniform with the funds and flexibility they need. Instead, members of the House and the Senate passed a bill that substitutes the opinions of politicians for the judgment of our military commanders. So a few minutes ago, I vetoed the bill.”

He now expects the Democrats to bring him a compromise bill. What this means is that they should bring him a clean bill without any suggestion of troop withdrawal. How do they compromise with a man who will not give an iota from his position? This is the man who believes that everything is His Way or No Way.

Now Bush wants us to believe that he had nothing to do with starting the war and that it’s the military's war. He wants us to believe that he is protecting the right of the military commanders to determine the war policy of this nation. It is also seems that his plan is to set up Iraq military commander Gen. David Petraeus to be his fall guy when we leave Iraq in defeat sometime in the future.

We are not on the road to victory; we are on the road to nowhere.

The California Curmudgeon