Monday, September 11, 2006

Bush Team Frequently Surprised

Vice President Cheney on Meet the Press gave the usual Bush excuse for another administration failure.

"I think there is no question but that we did not anticipate an insurgency that would last this long," the vice president said, adding that "major, major work ... is ahead of us."

Yet, later in the interview the V.P. would not buy the CIA assessment or the Senate Intelligence Committee report, similar to Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice on Fox News Sunday.

Cheney refused to separate Iraq from the overall terrorist threat, although a Senate Intelligence Committee report last week said there's no evidence Saddam Hussein had ties with al-Qaida. He said the war in Iraq is now the central front in the fight against terrorism.

Cheney defended his role as a leading advocate for invading Iraq, for a warrantless surveillance program and for harsh treatment of suspected terrorists. "Part of my job is to think about the unthinkable, to focus upon what in fact the terrorists may have in store for us," Cheney said when asked about his "dark side."

If the Vice President’s job is to think the unthinkable, why is he so frequently surprised? Why could he not envision a Hamas win in the Palestinian territories? Why did he not foresee world outrage over CIA secret prisons?

Where was the prescient V.P. around Hurricane Katrina? The Bush defense for Katrina is the “unprecedented disaster” excuse. “I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees”. Never mind FEMA drilled on that exact scenario less than a year prior.

Unprecedented, unanticipated, …from a distance it looks more like “who knew?” and “what me worry?” Bush’s recent statements regarding the war on Lebanon support this assertion.

"Sometimes it requires tragic situations to help bring clarity in the international community."

The tragedy in the world today is sorry leadership. “Leaders” on all sides fail the people. That America’s leaders fail us from aggression and ignorance is all the more discouraging as that is the supposed enemy.

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