The Futility of Bush-Bitching

I’m listening to the Petraeus report to Congress on NPR and feeling more than a little discouraged. The USA’s involvement in Iraq thing is going nowhere, despite the limited successes of the “surge,” and the USA can’t simply up stakes and leave. It’s heartsickening. We’re “stuck,” and what are we doing to resolve the issue other than continue operations “as is”? Include me as one of many who are fed up with the Augean stables that Iraq has become (not that the Iraqis are comparable to cattle; rather, the USA’s attempt to clean up after itself is pretty gruesome).

And one more thing, how does the continual bemoaning of the misintelligence, obfuscations, and falsehoods that permitted the 2003 invasion help? Yes, the administration’s actions leading up to the war were atrocious, perhaps criminal, but what does the persistence in Bush-bitching accomplish? Little, it seems, beyond enabling the self-satisfaction of those who want to “prove” that they were right to be suspicious of GWB in 2000. Don’t get me wrong: I am not, nor ever have been, a supporter of either Bush or Cheney. Nor have I supported the invasion of Iraq at any point. But it’s time to move beyond the smug lamentations and work towards developing reasonable ideas for our gradual withdrawal that wouldn’t further endanger Iraqis caught up in the USA v. Middle East mess.

However. . .

Although I say it’s time to work toward resolution rather than focus on the disastrous pre-war political and intelligence machinations, this doesn’t mean that I’m prepared—or willing--to support a politician who voted for the resolution that permitted the Iraq invasion in the first place. To have voted for the resolution smacks either of ignorance (as in, someone didn't read the intelligence report) or a wish to remain in the administration's (and voters') good graces. So either idiocy or pandering. Take your pick.

Let’s do have an independent body investigate the administration’s pre-war activities fully and, if any criminal actions occurred, prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law. Better yet, send them to Iraq in fatigues. The constant griping, however, is not helping us progress towards a “real” solution (and I s'pose this post fits with the former, so I'll stop now).

In a somewhat related offering, The New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani offers a scathing review of Blitcon Martin Amis’s recent publication, The Second Plane, a collection of essays on terrorism. Kakutani’s snakebite of a review concludes: “‘The Second Plane’” is such a weak, risible and often objectionable volume that the reader finishes it convinced that Mr. Amis should stick to writing fiction and literary criticism, as he’s thoroughly discredited himself with these essays as any sort of political or social commentator.” Ouch.