Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to You need to reread the president’s speeches prior to the war

That would be 'speech', singular
Robert — (archived)

I know the one you're thinking of, in the summer of 2002, but I'm having trouble locating it. One speech checking off a box on the PR campaign doesn't signal policy. For that you have to look at actions.

The lack of postwar planning is powerful evidence that Bush was entirely focused on regime change. The Administration planned to begin withdrawal three months after "Mission Accomplished", despite the incredulity of the professionals who knew better, and leave the Iraqis to their fate. It was all about getting Saddam and his imaginary WMD, nothing more.

In "Cobra II", the military history of the war, is the tale of a Marine group holding a town in the south. When the townsfolk came to them to ask for a restoration of local government, the Marines, bless 'em, promised immediate elections. Then they made the mistake of clearing it with Proconsul Bremer in Baghdad, who went ballistic. His concern: The "wrong" Iraqis might be elected, so he ordered the Marines to halt the election. It was never about installing a democracy in Iraq. To the extent that the Bush regime cared at all about government in Iraq, it was about installing a pro-US--let's be honest, a puppet--government.

BTW, I highly recommend "Cobra II", by Michael R. Gorden and General Bernard E. Trainor. It's written from the military's perspective, so it doesn't sugarcoat the unbroken string of stupid mistakes by Rumsfield, but nor does it try to sweep under the rug the chaos and mistakes of the early days of the war. Much of the material seems to come from postwar analyses and debriefings as part of the military's continual "QA" program. All-in-all a must-read for anybody who wants to sensibly discuss what happened in Iraq.

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