Bush Said to Be Frustrated by Level of Public Support in Iraq

[BurtWorm]

What a clueless moron. :eyes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/washington/16policy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

August 16, 2006
Policy

By THOM SHANKER and MARK MAZZETTI

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 — President Bush made clear in a private meeting this week that he was concerned about the lack of progress in Iraq and frustrated that the new Iraqi government — and the Iraqi people — had not shown greater public support for the American mission, participants in the meeting said Tuesday.

Those who attended a Monday lunch at the Pentagon that included the president’s war cabinet and several outside experts said Mr. Bush carefully avoided expressing a clear personal view of the new prime minister of Iraq, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. But in what participants described as a telling line of questioning, Mr. Bush did ask each of the academic experts for their assessment of the prime minister’s effectiveness.

“I sensed a frustration with the lack of progress on the bigger picture of Iraq generally — that we continue to lose a lot of lives, it continues to sap our budget,” said one person who attended the meeting. “The president wants the people in Iraq to get more on board to bring success.”

Another person who attended the session said he interpreted Mr. Bush’s comments less as an expression of frustration than as uncertainty over the prospects of the new Iraqi government. “He said he really didn’t quite have a sense yet of how effective the government was,” said this person, who, like several who discussed the session, agreed to speak only anonymously because it was a private lunch.

More generally, the participants said, the president expressed frustration that Iraqis had not come to appreciate the sacrifices the United States had made in Iraq, and was puzzled as to how a recent anti-American rally in support of Hezbollah in Baghdad could draw such a large crowd. “I do think he was frustrated about why 10,000 Shiites would go into the streets and demonstrate against the United States,” said another person who attended....

[TheFriedPiper]

1. Bush gets frustrated by a one-piece jigsaw puzzle

He's an idiot, just like his followers.

[rock]

12. Well, even a one-piece jigsaw puzzle has

to be oriented correctly, to be complete. (A mental feat which bush* is not capable of). LOL

[Ilsa]

17. That is excellent! IS that original or an old saying this 48 year old

hasn't heard?

Here's a couple in trade. I wish they were about Dumbya, but they are about various subjects:

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." -Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go." -Oscar
Wilde

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human
knowledge." -Thomas Brackett Reed

[Ilsa]

18. I was hoping he'd give a damn about what Americans think

about the war in Iraq, but I've overestimated him again.

[saltpoint]

2. I would expect that the family and friends of dead unarmed Iraqi

civilians might be quite a bit more frustrated at events than our brainless monkey in the White House.

He has no right to demand particular reactions of anyone here or abroad after Abu Ghraib. None at all.

[marmar]

3. "why 10,000 Shiites would go into the streets and demonstrate "

Tell me this asshole can't be that clueless?!?... Never mind. :dunce:

[Blackhatjack]

4. Check back with Bush in 3 mos and see how frustrated he is ...

...not only will the lack of support for his Iraq policy be larger in the streets of Baghdag, but there is a message coming loud and clear at the polls in Nov from Americans.

[librarycard]

5. Bush cares what the public thinks? I thought he knew best?

He's the decider. The rest of us don't count.

[warrens]

6. More like 100,000. I saw the film

Suddenly occurring to you that NO ONE LIKES YOUR NAZI ASS, Georgie?

[MrCoffee]

7. I don't think he's clueless...I think he's psychotically delusional

More and more, I have to live with the notion that these lunatics literally believed their pre-war pep rally. They honest to god thought that it would be the land of milk and honey, and that "We'll be greeted as liberators." I don't think they can rationally comprehend what's happening over there right now. I just don't think it's a concept that they can hold in their heads. Which scares the hell out of me WAY more than the thought that they were lying to us. They were lying to themselves.

[Missy M]

8. He seems to forget he invaded Iraq and the people never...

asked the US to sacrifice anything. Also, he isn't sure about the Iraqi government yet he is the one who brags about the Iraqi's having free elections. We sure saw enough purple fingers shown on US TV. I guess he may not be happy with the new democracy because the Iraqi government is not running the country exactly the way Bush wants it run. He is frustrated because the Iraqi's are not idolizing him and erecting statues in his honor. What a complete dunce that man is.

[brg5001]

9. I thought that academic experts were evil LIBBERAAAALLLLS

Wowwww. So after an imperialism-laden five years of playing global cowboy, he's asking for help and advice from ACADEMICS? I thought that universities and think-tanks were for liberal bedwetters and sissies! Screw the elites, damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead. We're taking the fight to the enemy. I hear the voices, but I'm the decider. Freedom is on the march. We're at a turning point, again and again and again. Arabic? We don't need no stinking Arabic. Fire every gay interpreter even if we have to use mime and hand-waving to try to communicate in the very country we are trying to "save". There! Mission accomplished. Oops, maybe not.

Now, he's frustrated because LIBBBBERAAALLLL historians, diplomats, military experts, and generals are 'splainin to the Frat Boy King that occupations are frought with danger under the BEST circumstances, and that NATION-BUILDING requires not just foresight, planning and an array of committed, supportive allies, but also the cooperation of people and governments who you DON'T WANT TO TALK TO -- and even then, it's rarely successful. As W so mal-appropriately put it, "I wouldn't want to be occupied."

Teddy Roosevelt's admonition to "Walk softly and carry a big stick" actually means that you should SHUT THE F*** UP and not engage in bellicose rhetoric, finger-pointing and ineffective flag-waving. Now Bush is frustrated because his version of Teddy's "Splendid Little War" isn't resulting in rainbows and sunshine?

Maybe he should have listened to the litany of godless LIBBBERALLLLS in and out of government who were telling him -- over and over --that this was going to be a MOTHER-F*&^ING FIASCO. Instead, he handed out Medals of Freedom to all the people who told him that it would be over in time for '04. What a complete, utter, and miserable failure! It must be the media's fault.

But wait! Every embryo is sacred and gays can't destroy our marriages, so who cares? Talladega Nights is playing. America can go back to sleep now.

[BurtWorm]

11. Excellent rant, brg5001 !

:toast:

Welcome to DU!

[brg5001]

13. Thanks, Burt

I appreciate that, Burt. It's great to be here. The original NYT piece was highlighted in several DU posts today, so I may repost this if that's allowed. I enjoy getting this stuff out of my system...more to come!

[obreaslan]

14. Wow!!!! Yeah, welcome...

Great post for one of our newcomers.

:hi:

[brg5001]

16. Thanks, obreaslan

I'm really enjoying DU. I used to be a conservative until one day, it dawned on me that I was surrounded by reactionary buttholes, so DU is serious therapy for me! I'm trying to have fun while getting all of that icky Republican gobbledygook out of my system. Thanks for the warm welcome.

[AlCzervik]

10. nice bubble there George, roomy?

[BurtWorm]

15. kick