Well here we go again! The mid-term report is on the table aka "Initial Benchmark Assessment Report" and it's looking a bit like junior is a bit shaky in some of his courses. But he is at least passing Study Hall! The problem Bush has to face today is that he accepted the idea of having Benchmarks months ago. And now he has to face the public and admit he isn't really doing a great job! But of course, like every other teenager that pulls out a "D" in Social Studies his parents "the public" won't be letting him borrow the car anytime soon.


I could go on and on over "why" we got in this mess and the stupid mistakes Bush has done to get us here. But that's not very productive. There will be plenty of time to put him in prison after everyone is back home. What we need to do is come up with a plan to resolve this mess. But if we want his grades to improve he really needs to admit he screwed up and start following his parents advice for a change.


1 - No more "go it alone" in Iraq - The issue here isn't that we are there, but that no one else is! Early on he gave excuses as to why he didn't want the U.N. involved, but they are exactly the type of group we need providing management of this situation. Bush is still thinking that we are going to just leave a force of personnel and stay in Iraq as we did in Korea. Well I am sorry to say that this country is a little less friendly to that idea so we best think realistically. Sorry George, no air bases this time!


2 - More diplomacy - We do have a Secretary of State? Right? So why is she always parading around Congressmen pushing Bush's agenda and arguing with the neighbors? She should be knocking on doors in the Middle East and pushing cooperation and support from all of the countries surrounding Iraq. Condi is not doing her job. Forget trying to spin the bad news, Condi. I think the Congressmen knows already. We know Syria isn't exactly fun at parties and Iran would more than love for us to fall flat on our faces in this situation. But that is exactly the reason we need a diplomat here. They are perfect at making a sour situation turn out a little less volatile. We already have seen what happens when you use force as a diplomatic tool. So Condi, get back to work!


3 - Changing the Direction - George really should have gotten this message a long time ago when things started to degrade badly. The pundits were right! I know it's easy to quarterback the game if its almost over, but every coach in the NFL knows that if it's the 2nd half and you are losing 21-0 that it's time for a new plan! There is that word that George can't get his head around... "losing". Okay, I understand. Let's say that instead you are just not "winning" the war as planned? Is that any better to swallow. Just like that kid who brings home the bad mid-term report, we have a president that can't come to terms with the fact he may not graduate this year. So you can't go "poof" and everyone plays nice and you have a blossoming democracy in the Middle East to exploit. At least you could go for basic safety and stability of human life? Isn't that a worthy goal? As they say "Rome wasn't built in a day!". But Baghdad sure can go to hell in one... Let's start by pulling back more and letting the Iraqi units handle the face to face issues. And if we can bring in the U.N. with promises that they can work side by side with us in planning the strategy then maybe we can stop the shooting war and get back to rebuilding.


Article: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/12/us.iraq/index.html

Respectfully,
Wynter