Many on the left have been accused of opportunism in their denunciations of the Bush and Blair administrations’ foreign policies in the wake of the London bombings last week. George Bush, never one to shy away from opportunism himself, showed up at the FBI academy in Quantico on Monday, and in a magnificent display of the art, gave his take on the London bombings for the benefit of the would-be Feds and anyone else who cared to pay attention. Here’s some of what he said, with some questions and comments one might add:
“The terrorists know they can’t defeat us on the battlefield.” Umm. I’m not so sure about that, Prez. Which terrorists are you talking about? If it’s the ones in Iraq, the ones in the insurgency, I think they do believe they can defeat us on the battlefield. It’s their field, and they have all the advantages. Remember the Vietcong? No, of course not; those were your fuzzy years.
“The only way the terrorists can win is if we lose our nerve. This isn’t going to happen on my watch.” Well, what’s a win? What are the terrorists trying to achieve? If you’re talking about Iraq, it seems the goal they have there is for us to leave. So I guess we’re not leaving, because you have nerves of steel. No matter how many innocents, including our troops, die. That’ll show them.
“The attack in London was an attack on the civilized world.” Right: unlike our attack on Iraq, which was an attack on the uncivilized world. An attack, incidentally, that has so far resulted in tens of thousands of presumably uncivilized civilian deaths. London is part of the civilized world, indeed; but I don’t recall any communiqués giving that as a reason for the attacks.
“The civilized world is united in its resolve. We will not yield.” Hmm. Spain is surely part of Mr. Bush’s civilized world, but the Spaniards did yield after the Madrid bombings last year. What gives, Mr. President?
“There’s great suffering in the city of London.” With all due respect, sir: no shit. The families of the dead and injured are indeed suffering, partly thanks to Tony Blair’s standing by your side. How about saying “I’m sorry if I dragged you into this mess”? But being POTUS means never having to say you’re sorry.
“The terrorists fight in Iraq because they know that the survival of their hateful ideology is at stake.” So you know that they know. That’s good to know sir, but silly me, I thought the insurgency’s goal in Iraq was to get rid of the foreign occupiers.
“They know that as freedom takes root in Iraq, it will inspire millions across the Middle East to claim their liberty.” So, exactly when is this freedom going to start taking root in Iraq? Or are we not allowed to ask?
“And when the Middle East grows in democracy and prosperity and hope, the terrorists will lose their sponsors. They’ll lose their recruits.” You’re right, George. So perhaps a good step would be for us to stop supporting undemocratic regimes, no? We could start with, say, Saudi Arabia?
“They will lose their hopes for turning that region into a base of attacks against America and our allies.” Wait a minute.....let me get this right: terrorists used Iraq and the Middle East as a base for the attacks against London? I thought they used it as an excuse for the attacks.
So here we go: Mr. Bush and his friends use terrorist attacks as a opportunity to justify their wars and their vision for a new world order. And the left is accused of heartless opportunism. I wonder where we’ve seen this picture before.....