Bush Delivers

I'm sure you've seen a lot of news like this, "Market bombs kill 100 in 2 Iraqi cities", lately.

Bush promised us that there would be more sacrifices over the next two years, and he was shooting straight. I believe that he equates death counts with sports scores, and assumes that higher numbers are enough to lead us to victory. Not much else makes sense in the view that he pushes, that more sacrifices will bring us the 'Big Win', whatever that might turn out to be.

So for the next two years, this is the only plan we'll have. More war, more deaths, no change in plans, more of the same...

And at least recruitment is going well. Pundits tells us that recruitment quotas are being exceeded. They tell us that the armed services are lying when they say they've dropped their quotas, so they can exceed them to make good press. As we know though, the military lies about everything, just ask Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly, the guardians of truth.

In fact, recruitment is going so well, the Marines are asking their retired members to come back and play in Iraq. I suppose that over time they may quit asking nicely and just force them to return. Though a number of retired military guys that I know believe that they can't be forced back into the military, we all know that Iraq can just be declared a National Emergency by our elected Napoleon and they'll be shipped overseas, lickety split. Laws don't apply to Emperors, and they can always battle out the decision in court when the war is over. And its not like they can't just change the law regarding this issue.

In other news, there seem to be a lot of presidential hopefuls coming out of the woodwork. I don't know if this turnout is historic or setting records, but its more than I remember in my lifetime.

And what is drawing them out? We've had a crappy economy, and national disasters in the past, that changed the kind and number of candidates that have run. So I assume at this point that the war is attracting them like moths to a flame. they see this as their chance to play a role in history and to have their names appear in history books. With luck, there may be entire chapter devoted to their time in office.

With so many candidates running, the percentages tell me that some of them are running for honorable reasons. But I suspect that personal glory is driving most of them. They want a chance to prove that they can be great War Presidents. And they assume they can manage the job. Why run if you think you'll fail? And I assume they believe that simply have to do better than Emperor George, in order to be placed as a positive footnote in the pages of history.

Well good luck you Napoleon Wannabees! From the safe perspective that I sit from, it looks like you're all running for office in one of the worst times in history. Iraq, Afghanistan and probably Iran and Syria are going to be so screwed that you'll be swimming in a charnel soup by the time Bush retires from office. The best you might hope for is to do what Bush is doing, just simply keeping the slaughter going at a rate that makes him joyous and happy, to paraphrase his own words. At worst, you'll be known as the president that lost the war.

Now of course, some might say there are three paths the next president can take. They can win, lose or draw. Sun Tzu addresses our situation quite well in his famous work, The Art of War. And he tells us that we've taken the path of the losers already. He tells us that a would be conquering army will lose if it doesn't win decisively in short order. He tells us that a long war of occupation will always result in bankrupting the invading nation. Sun Tzu argues that in the case of our two wars, we've already lost, because we didn't win to begin with.

A president then, who maintains the war, is going to be a lame duck, drawing political attacks from all directions. Every decision will be questioned, and a lack of victories will cause his or her own party to lose faith.

And of course, leaving is losing, in the eyes of the empire.

Perhaps a fourth choice may be available. The next president could start more wars. Bush believes that attacking is the same as victory. He is bored by drawn out conflicts (by his own admission), and loves the initial phases of war the best. The dropping bombs, green screen explosions and fawning coverage, must have been quite an ego boost for him. He's got to be itching to start another war. The next president may be anxious to have wars that he or she started, just to show that they love bloodshed as much as Bush.

The next president will only sit for one term. I don't see how it could work out any other way, so long as we continue to have pretend elections.

And the president after that will be drowning in charnel sewage.

What a mess.