Yes he did, no he didn't, yes...

The other day Bush said "we've never been stay the course," a lie so outrageous as to leave one speechless. Of course Bush has no intention of not staying the course, he just wants us to believe he is being more "flexible" in doing so. Actually, what he says, as usual, makes absolutely no sense at all. One day they announce our troops will withdraw within 18 months. The next day Bush says there is no timetable, and so it goes, just one nonsensical statement after another. What is even more absurd at the moment is the argument between Tony Snow and others. Snow says Bush only said stay the course eight times. Others say at least 30 times. Someone else says Lieberman used the phrase five times. Can you believe this? These idiots are re-living their childhoods, arguing about how many times Bush said it, and so on. I guess this is where you end up when the whole mess is so bad no one can make any sense at all of it. Apparently the 18 months claim was just made up for PR purposes as Bush subsequently denied it and Maliki did likewise.

One thing is certain, and I have repeated it I don't know how many times (no one listens to me, of course). THE BUSH/CHENEY ADMINISTRATION HAS NO INTENTION OF EVER PULLING OUR TROOPS COMPLETELY OUT OF IRAQ. Have you ever heard anyone in this administration ever claim we will withdraw completely? Even this latest 18 month baloney ended by saying at least some troops would be left. Of course they will, who is going to occupy the permanent bases and the fortified embassy we have spent millions building? Bush says we will never leave until we have achieved "victory." He says victory means the Iraqis will have a government that can maintain itself. What he really means is that Iraq will have a puppet government completely subservient to U.S. desires which will be supervised by the presence of American troops (until, perhaps, the oil is exhausted at some remote future date). This was the goal in the beginning and this is the goal that continues to drive this absurd "war." All this talk of bringing the troops home, of Iraq becoming a sovereign nation, of our "standing down" when the Iraqis "stand up," is no more than baying at the moon. We will continue to occupy Iraq just as we continue to occupy virtually all the rest of the world. For the empire-crazed neocons the Iraq quagmire is just a temporary setback. They'll eventually go after Iran and every other country that has something they want. They will, absolutely, unless we can stop them now. The imminent elections are where we must begin. Vote Democratic. Vote in such massive numbers there will be no way they can cheat their way into office again. Vote as if your life depends upon it - it might.