I didn't want to write this blog today.  It started out with another title, "Becoming Green" and with a defensive first paragraph about how I knew I should be blogging about Bush's speech but I couldn't face it yet.

Then, the blog morphed into a commentary (albiet brief) on Bush's speech.  So here we go.

Most people seem to be focused on Bush's new language of "success" versus "victory," and what it means that the oil revenue sharing legislation Bush has touted as one success seems to be falling apart.  I have to confess, I couldn't even watch the man last night.  (I did read the speech this morning.)  After reading the speech and a few op-eds, I have two brief comments about the speech, the surge, the post-surge withdrawal plans. 


1.  The word that struck me the most in the speech was not "success," which it seems pundits coast to coast have latched onto as indicative of a mindset change.  Their reasoning goes that since Bush isn't talking about "victory" anymore, he must be acknowledging that the war will not be won.

Harrumph.  I don't buy that.

I did note with interest, however, that when Bush talked about Iraq as an oasis of security in the Mideast, he referred to it as a free Iraq not, as he has in the past, a democratic Iraq.  I think this was a much more meaningful language shift and it signals, to me, that Bush is beginning to see that the democracy he conjured for Iraq will not be the stable government he envisioned.  He may have to settle for something a bit more military like Afghanistan.  We'll see.

2.  When Bush said, "Americans want our country to be safe and our troops to begin coming home from Iraq. Yet those of us who believe success in Iraq is essential to our security, and those who believe we should begin bringing our troops home, have been at odds. Now...[it's possible] for people who have been on opposite sides of this difficult debate to come together, " I quite frankly got pissed.

Sure, we can come together over an orderly withdrawal that leaves the region relatively stable.  We will rejoice when our men and women serving in Iraq are able to return home just as we grieve together over those who won't be returning home. 

I am not one of those who advocate pulling out of Iraq now and leaving a bloody (bloodier) mess behind us.  We have an obligation to help Iraq transition back to some semblance of stability before we leave. 

But I am pissed as hell that we're there at all...and "coming together" over the withdrawal process does NOT fix everything.  I hope he gets that.  And I know he doesn't.

So as you see, I went and did a full blog on Bush and Iraq and now am too irritated to write about going green...a much more pleasant topic (and one where I can have more impact!).  Tune in tomorrow for me telling Kermit, "It is easy being green!"