We will show the world that al Qaeda is the weak horse

I worry that McCain’s “gaffe” yesterday will be pass in the media for a simple verbal slip rather than profound ignorance.



If you turn up the sound when Lieberman’s whispering, you can hear that McCain just repeated Holy Joe’s words verbatim, like when Nancy Reagan told Ronnie to say “We’re doing everything we can.”

Bush gave a speech this morning to mark the beginning of the 6th year of war in Iraq. “[W]e’e helping the people of Iraq establish a democracy in the heart of the Middle East,” he said, speaking in the heart of the Pentagon, because in this democracy, he did not dare face the reaction he might receive if he gave such a speech in front of a crowd of ordinary American citizens.


Not that he knew what you call some of the people in uniforms he was addressing: “Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Coastmen -- Coast Guardmen [sic], thanks for coming.”

He said Saddam Hussein’s regime had to be removed because it “threatened free nations.” Which free nations? With what weapons?

He mentioned the rape rooms. Gotta mention the rape rooms.

“The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of America.” Who doesn’t appreciate a change of scenery?

“The surge,” he claimed, “is working.” “And as a return on our success in Iraq, we’ve begun bringing some of our troops home.” Note that he fumbled his own catch-phrase, “return on success,” using “return” as in “return on an investment.”


How is the “surge” working? By winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis (the mechanism by which this feat was accomplished is left unclear) against Al Qaida. That is, with the governance of Iraq still a sectarian shambles (he barely mentions the government, fails to bring up the “benchmarks,” and only mentions “reconciliation” once), he is declaring mission accomplished against the non-existent threat of Iraq being taken over by Al Qaida:

The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around -- it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror. For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where al Qaeda rallied Arab masses to drive America out. Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al Qaeda out. In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his murderous network. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated.

THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY? Osama evidently once said “When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse.” Bush says, “By defeating al Qaeda in Iraq, we will show the world that al Qaeda is the weak horse.”

He mentioned one member of the military by name, Marine Gunnery Sgt William “Spanky” Gibson, whose lower leg was amputated after a sniper attack but managed to return to Iraq for another tour. “When Americans like Spanky Gibson serve on our side,” Bush proclaimed, “the enemy in Iraq doesn’t got a chance.”