The American Spectator

Despite three elections and the fact that civil war has not erupted, because the Iraqis have a new found freedom worth saving (a point Jed glibly glosses over), nonetheless, all is lost because Bush has not defined the mission. Jed offers no proof for this assertion other than the fact that the NYT says so. I for one don’t think that the mission is adrift, contrary to Jed’s panic attack. And since when did the NYT, CBS or the rest of the MSM ever not attempt to portray our actions in Iraq as anything other than a failure? This is not new, but to Jed, because of a mosque bombing, Bush has managed single-handedly to lose the moral high ground to the Alec Baldwins of the loony left.

p>Well, Jed, all I can say is that the MSM has never defined the mission for me, ever; and I don’t intend to let them start now. That’s why I read TAS everyday. Even if civil war does become a reality, albeit a brief one, peace will be restored and Saddam will never return to power, ever. So, if you want to fall in with the all is lost crowd, well that’s your problem. Just don’t try and make it ours. br> — A. DiPentima /p>

It looks as if President Bush has basically gone to sleep, just as his father did after the first Iraqi war. He is acting like no more than a caretaker now, ignoring his political base, or even insulting it.

Also, as long as Syria and Iran can keep interfering in Iraq, we are not going to win. No one wants a larger war, but leaving the enemy a North Vietnam sanctuary means we can’t really win. We will just sit there as our troops did in South Vietnam, waiting for whatever the enemy will throw at us. Are we supposed to outlast Assad and the Ayatollahs, as we were supposed to outlast Hanoi?

This administration won’t even use political means — not even symbolic means — to pressure or weaken these regimes. Perhaps Bush is too busy threatening his first veto ever over the UAE contract, or trying to come up with another illegal immigrant amnesty that no one but his rich business friends and liberal enemies want — dressed up as a “work program,” of course.

Or maybe he’s too buy creating even more “affirmative action” quota programs in the federal service.

p>I think Bush has blown his chance to be a great president. But he could still go down in history as a good one, if he will just wake up, and just end the common GOP practice of slapping its supporters in the face, in a futile effort to win support among people who hate him. br> — John Lockwood br> Washington, D.C.