Original article
OPINION: MAIN STREET, JANUARY 20, 2009
by William McGurn
In a few hours, George W. Bush will walk out of the Oval Office for the last time as president. As he leaves, he carries with him the near-universal opprobrium of the permanent class that inhabits our nation's capital. Yet perhaps the most important reason for this unpopularity is the one least commented on.
Here's a hint: It's not because of his failures. To the contrary, Mr. Bush's disfavor in Washington owes more to his greatest success. Simply put, there are those who will never forgive Mr. Bush for not losing a war they had all declared unwinnable.
Here in the afterglow of the turnaround led by Gen. David Petraeus, it's easy to forget what the smart set was saying two years ago -- and how categorical they all were in their certainty. The president was a simpleton, it was agreed. Didn't he know that Iraq was a civil war, and the only answer was to get out as fast as we could?
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- the man who will be sworn in as vice president today -- didn't limit himself to his own opinion. Days before the president announced the surge, Joe Biden suggested to the Washington Post he knew the president's people had also concluded the war was lost. They were, he said, just trying to "keep it from totally collapsing" until they could "hand it off to the next guy."
For his part, on the night Mr. Bush announced the surge, Barack Obama said he was "not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq are going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse."
Three months after that, before the surge had even started, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pronounced the war in Iraq "lost." These and similar comments, moreover, were amplified by a media echo chamber even more absolute in its sense of hopelessness about Iraq and its contempt for the president.
For many of these critics, the template for understanding Iraq was Vietnam -- especially after things started to get tough. In terms of the wars themselves, of course, there is almost no parallel between Vietnam and Iraq: The enemies are different, the fighting on the ground is different, the involvement of other powers is different, and so on.
Still, the operating metaphor of Vietnam has never been military. For the most part, it is political. And in this realm, we saw history repeat itself: a failure of nerve among the same class that endorsed the original action.
As with Vietnam, with Iraq the failure of nerve was most clear in Congress. For example, of the five active Democratic senators who sought the nomination, four voted in favor of the Iraqi intervention before discovering their antiwar selves.
As in Vietnam too, rather than finding their judgment questioned, those who flip-flopped on the war were held up as voices of reason. In a memorable editorial advocating a pullout, the New York Times gave voice to the chilling possibilities that this new realism was willing to accept in the name of bringing our soldiers home.
"Americans must be clear that Iraq, and the region around it, could be even bloodier and more chaotic after Americans leave," read the editorial. "There could be reprisals against those who worked with American forces, further ethnic cleansing, even genocide." Even genocide. With no hint of irony, the Times nevertheless went on to conclude that it would be even worse if we stayed.
This is Vietnam thinking. And the president never accepted it. That was why his critics went ape when, in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, he touched on the killing fields and exodus of boat people that followed America's humiliating exit off an embassy rooftop. As the Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti noted, Mr. Bush had appropriated one of their most cherished analogies -- only he drew very different lessons from it.
Mr. Bush's success in Iraq is equally infuriating, because it showed he was right and they wrong. Many in Washington have not yet admitted that, even to themselves. Mr. Obama has. We know he has because he has elected to keep Mr. Bush's secretary of defense -- not something you do with a failure.
Mr. Obama seems aware that, at the end of the day, he will not be judged by his predecessor's approval ratings. Instead, he will soon find himself under pressure to measure up to two Bush achievements: a strategic victory in Iraq, and the prevention of another attack on America's home soil. As he rises to this challenge, our new president will learn that when you make a mistake, the keepers of the Beltway's received orthodoxies will make you pay dearly.
But it will not even be close to the price you pay for ignoring their advice and succeeding.
__________________________________________________
William McGurn is a Vice President at News Corporation who writes speeches for CEO Rupert Murdoch. Previously he served as Chief Speechwriter for President George W. Bush.
Mr. McGurn has served as chief editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal in New York. He spent more than a decade overseas -- in Brussels for The Wall Street Journal/Europe and in Hong Kong with both the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review. And in the mid-1990s, he was Washington Bureau Chief for National Review.
Bill is author of a book on Hong Kong ("Perfidious Albion") and a monograph on terrorism ("Terrorist or Freedom Fighter"). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, holds a BA in philosophy from Notre Dame and an MS in Communications from Boston University.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” -Reichsminister Joseph Goebbels
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
America, have you forgotten history?
Budget Hero
Popular Posts
Labels
- 60 Minutes (2)
- Affirmative Action (1)
- Africa (1)
- Al Gore (1)
- Al Queda (1)
- al-Dura (4)
- Al-Qaeda (1)
- Alex Jones (3)
- Algeria (1)
- altruism (1)
- Animation (1)
- Anjum Chaudri (1)
- Anthony Robbins (1)
- Anti-Racism (1)
- Anti-semitism (13)
- Antony Davies (6)
- Arab brotherly love (2)
- Arafat (2)
- Argentina (3)
- Ayn Rand (1)
- Bailouts (1)
- Bank Loans (1)
- Banks (1)
- Bat Yeor (2)
- behaviour modification (1)
- Benghazi (1)
- Benjamin NetanYahu (1)
- Bill Cosby (1)
- booby traps (2)
- border crossings (1)
- Border rocket fire (4)
- borders (1)
- Brainwashing (2)
- Brotherhood of Islam (2)
- Bubonic plague (1)
- Bush (8)
- Canada (1)
- capitalism (3)
- Carter (1)
- Celente (1)
- chemical weapons (1)
- child labour (1)
- Children militants (5)
- Chris Martenson (2)
- Climategate (5)
- Concealed Carry Weapon (1)
- conspiracy (1)
- Constitutional Conservatism (1)
- crash course (2)
- crusades (1)
- Cultural Marxism (1)
- Currency (1)
- Danny Ayalon (1)
- David Horowitz (1)
- debate (1)
- debt (1)
- Debunked (1)
- Deficit (1)
- Dennis Prager (2)
- Derivatives (1)
- Detroit (2)
- dhimmi (4)
- DHS (1)
- Disputed casualties (9)
- Documentaries (3)
- Dome of Rock (1)
- Double standards (16)
- Dr Abu Al-Aish (1)
- Dr Bill Warner (2)
- dualism (3)
- Dubai (1)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (1)
- economic crash (11)
- economic manipulation (3)
- economic terrorism (2)
- Economics (6)
- Economy (32)
- Education (1)
- Egypt (2)
- Elbert Guillory (1)
- epic rant (1)
- Eric Allen Bell (1)
- Eurabia (1)
- Euro State (2)
- ex-Moslem speaks out (4)
- False peace (2)
- False Reporting (1)
- Fatah (1)
- Federal Reserve (5)
- feminism (1)
- Financial crisis (3)
- Fitna (2)
- Flotilla Incident (4)
- Fractional Reserve System (1)
- Fraud (1)
- Free Markets (2)
- Free Speech (20)
- freedom (1)
- Gary Johnson (1)
- Gaza (8)
- Geneva Convention (1)
- Global Warming (10)
- gold (2)
- Greece (1)
- Green Delusion (5)
- Gun Confiscation (1)
- gun control (3)
- Hamas (26)
- Hamas Funding (4)
- Hamas own words (5)
- Hamas use of ambulances (3)
- Hamas use of hospitals (1)
- Hamas use of mosques (2)
- Hamas use of schools (5)
- Hamas vs Fatah (3)
- Hamas weapons caches (1)
- Happiness (1)
- health care (2)
- Herman Cain (1)
- Hillary Clinton (3)
- History (2)
- Hoax (12)
- hollywood (1)
- Human rights (2)
- Human Shields (16)
- Humanitarian aid (6)
- Ideology (1)
- Imran Khan (1)
- inciting hatred (1)
- India (1)
- inflation (3)
- innocence (1)
- International law (3)
- Iran (4)
- ISIS (2)
- Islam (3)
- Islam vs West (24)
- islamic banking (1)
- Islamic colonization (11)
- Islamic education (5)
- Islamic Slavery (1)
- Islamic warfare (9)
- Islamization of Europe (23)
- Israel (22)
- israel vindicated (8)
- Israeli home perspective (2)
- Jared Taylor (1)
- Jerusalem (1)
- Jerusalem Institute of Justice (2)
- Jewish Refugees (3)
- Jews (1)
- JFK (1)
- Jihad (7)
- Jim Rogers (4)
- Joe Biden (1)
- Joe Rogan (2)
- John Stossel (33)
- Judge Andrew Napolitano (5)
- kafir (3)
- Katrina (1)
- Larry Elder (1)
- Liberalism (2)
- Libertarianism (1)
- Lord Digby Jones (1)
- Margaret Thatcher (1)
- Martin Luthor King (1)
- Max Keiser (1)
- Mecca (1)
- Merkel (1)
- Middle East Conflict (45)
- Middle East Conflict History (5)
- Middle East Unrest (1)
- Military Industrial Complex (1)
- Milton Friedman (12)
- mind control (1)
- Mitt Romney (1)
- Model Cities Program (2)
- Moslem speaks up (2)
- Multiculturalism (1)
- Mumbai (1)
- Muslim refugees (1)
- Muslims (1)
- Muslims Exposed (1)
- Muslims killing Christians (1)
- National Debt (8)
- Neil deGrasse Tyson (1)
- Nelson Mandela (1)
- Netanyahu (3)
- Nigel Farage (3)
- Obama (42)
- Obamacare (1)
- Oil (2)
- Oriana Fallaci (1)
- Orianna Fallaci (1)
- Osama (1)
- Oslo (2)
- OWS (1)
- Pajamasmedia (1)
- Palestinian education (5)
- Palestinian executions (1)
- Palestinian roots (2)
- Palestinian speaks out (2)
- Palestinian State (1)
- Palestinians Exposed (1)
- Pallywood (14)
- Parasitic Islam (1)
- Pat Condell (1)
- peace process (1)
- Peirs Morgan (1)
- People (12)
- PETA (1)
- Peter Schiff (6)
- Phil Donehue (2)
- Phosphorus shells (3)
- Piers Morgan (1)
- Political Correctness (3)
- Political Islam (16)
- Politics (2)
- Post Office (1)
- Prager University (4)
- Progressives (1)
- propaganda (2)
- Psychological warfare (1)
- putin (2)
- Rabin (2)
- racial relations (1)
- Racism (1)
- radical islam (10)
- Rand Paul (3)
- Reagan (5)
- Reality Check (1)
- ReasonTV (1)
- Ron Paul (75)
- Ron Paul Ad (1)
- Ron Paul Commentary (1)
- Ron Paul Lecture (3)
- Ron Paul Winning State (12)
- Ronald Reagan (1)
- Sam Harris (2)
- SBSS 27 (1)
- Secret Societies (1)
- Serco (1)
- Sexual Mutilation (1)
- Shiara (4)
- shooting (1)
- Slavery (1)
- Smuggling (3)
- socialism (6)
- Socialism at work (1)
- Soros (2)
- Spontaneous Order (1)
- Statistics (1)
- student loan (1)
- Subjugation of women (1)
- Sufis (2)
- Suicide bombing (5)
- survivalist (2)
- Sweatshops (1)
- Sweden (1)
- Taqiyya (1)
- Tarek Fatah (1)
- Tarplay (1)
- Tears of Jihad (2)
- terrorism (1)
- Thomas Sowell (10)
- Thomas Woods (4)
- Tomi Lahren (1)
- Treatment of Kafirs (1)
- Trump (1)
- Turkey (1)
- UK (9)
- UN (3)
- Unintended Consequences (1)
- Unions (2)
- UNRWA (6)
- UNRWA School (1)
- USA (5)
- Video (61)
- Wafa Sultan (2)
- Wal-Mart (1)
- Walter Williams (1)
- War crimes (1)
- Welfare State (1)
- Whit House Insider (1)
- White House Insider (1)
- Wilders (17)
- Yuri Bezmenov (1)
- Zakaria Botros (3)
No comments:
Post a Comment