Bush Aide: ‘We Have Not Failed in Iraq’
WASHINGTON (AP) - While President Bush acknowledges the need for major changes in Iraq, he will not use this week’s Iraq Study Group report as political cover for bringing troops home, his national security adviser said Sunday….”We have not failed in Iraq,” Stephen Hadley said as he made the talk show rounds. “We will fail in Iraq if we pull out our troops before we’re in a position to help the Iraqis succeed.”….But he added: “The president understands that we need to have a way forward in Iraq that is more successful.”
I never cease to be amazed at the willingness of Bush Administration politicos to hew to the party line, in spite of abject reality and all evidence to the contrary. Of course, I suppose it would stand to reason that if this Administration cannot define what “victory” in Iraq would look like, we can’t reasonably expect them to be able to define “failure”. That’s OK, really…because I can. I’d dazzle y’all with my broad and copious knowledge of English (it IS, after all, my native tongue), but I wouldn’t want anyone to think that I’m putting on airs.
Just in case y’all don’t think I’m smart enough to pull this off, I’ll use an actual, honest-to-God dictionary definition, courtesy of my friends at Dictionary.com:
fail·ure / [feyl-yer]
–noun
- an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success: His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure.
- nonperformance of something due, required, or expected: a failure to do what one has promised; a failure to appear.
- a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency: the failure of crops.
- deterioration or decay, esp. of vigor, strength, etc.: The failure of her health made retirement necessary.
- a condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.
- a becoming insolvent or bankrupt: the failure of a bank.
- a person or thing that proves unsuccessful: He is a failure in his career. The cake is a failure.
[Origin: 1635–45; fail + -ure; r. failer a (de)fault < AF (n. use of inf.), for OF faillir
Right off the top of my head, I can cite five of the seven examples as things that fit the war in Iraq. Ergo, that would seem to qualify the war in Iraq as a failure. Any questions?
Now if neocon spinmeisters like Hadley would quite channeling Josef Goebbels, perhaps we might actually make some progress and save a few American lives. Or is Hadley really OK with the continued sacrifice of American lives in order that this Administration might save face?
Do I really need to answer that? Almost four years after “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED”…and we’re still burying our sons and daughters. Man, it’s good thing that “major combat operations” are over, eh? I’d hate to think what Iraq might be like if we were engaged in anything but “minor combat operations”.
I can only hope that there will be a very special place in Hell for Stephen Hadley. It won’t atone for the blood he has on his hands, or the lies and propaganda that have been his stock in trade…but it’s a start.
