It looks like Bush’s surprise visit to Iraq is not yielding the results he would have hoped for. One interesting article shows how the administration is receiving the news that U.K. forces have pulled out of Basara:
The American response to the pull out has so far been muted, despite its crucial timing.
Bush administration officials were reportedly furious that the operation was launched at a time when the president is begging for more time for his “surge” strategy to turn the tide of the war – though no official comment has yet been made.
Wow – how dare them damn Brits take action without Bush’s blessing. Don’t they know he is the ruler of the entire world?
Bush also found out reality from a soldier serving in Iraq – a reality the administration has always been quick to dismiss:
The temperature topped 110 degrees as Bush stepped off Air Force One. The president stopped at a small building where a Marine Cobra pilot briefed him about the positives and negatives of current troop rotations. He told the president that troops were not getting enough time at home and did not have enough time for training.
Hmm not enough training or time at home. That sounds familiar. I seem to remember a certain Democratic Senator trying to fix that problem, while the Republicans blasted him. Of course that Democratic Senator wouldn’t know anything about the military, he was just the Navy Secretary under Reagan.
So do we need any more proof of how much the GOP plays politics with the lives of our military?