One tends to want to believe that even though they may disagree with the President of the United States, he's acting in the best interest of the country as he sees it. One expects him to see his job as a role, as carrying out a duty to the country and the people. He's aware he is a tool, a servant of the people. One expects.

If that were the case, this President would have listened to the Baker-Hamilton solutions, and acted in the best interest of the country, the US voter and the Iraqis.

Instead, if one views the President of the United States as having come to view himself as the country, sees his ego gratification as the most important matter in the world, in his imperial view as always being right, the country being his servant, then it makes sense that he would escalate the involvement in the Middle East.

And he will continue to escalate it until he is stopped by the voters and saner Congressmen and women. And then he'll blame them for giving up, for not carrying forward his "vision". It won't be his fault, even though he has had everything for which he's asked and longer than WWII. He can go down in flames, blaming the country for letting him down. Hitler did the same with Germany, with the same ego dynamics operating.

"13,000 Guard troops await deployment to Iraq. Military demands take toll on small U.S. towns in Midwest and South."

Sad.

Arf