NYT: Bush's New Problem: Iraq Could Eclipse Big Domestic Agenda

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 - The deadly attack on a United States military base in northern Iraq on Tuesday scrambled the Bush administration's hopes of showing progress toward stability there, while making clear that the war is creating a nasty array of problems for President Bush as he gears up for an ambitious second term.

Despite weathering criticism of his Iraq policy during the presidential campaign, Mr. Bush is heading into his next four years in the White House facing a public that appears increasingly worried about the course of events in Iraq and wondering where the exit is.

And as he prepares to take the oath of office a second time and to focus more of his energy on a far-reaching domestic agenda, he is at risk of finding his presidency so consumed by Iraq for at least the next year that he could have trouble pressing ahead with big initiatives like the overhauling of Social Security. At the same time, Mr. Bush faces fundamental questions about his strategy for bringing stability to Iraq. How can the United States - with the help of Iraqi security forces whose performance has been uneven at best - assure the safety of Iraqis who go to the polls on Jan. 30 when it cannot keep its own troops safe on their own base?

(SNIP)

The situation has left the White House sending two somewhat contradictory messages. One, alluded to by Mr. Bush at his news conference on Monday and stated explicitly by other administration officials on Tuesday, is that no one should expect either the violence to abate after the first round of elections on Jan. 30 or the United States to begin bringing troops home next year in substantial numbers.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/22/politics/22assess.html?oref=login

[rodeodance]

1. some news show was discussing this tonight!!--the increase war costs

that we are acqiring--no room for Bush's big plans on SS "reform"!!

[GOPBasher]

10. He doesn't care. He'll keep borrowing and borrowing more money.

He doesn't care about the debt. He expects the Rapture soon, so the debt doesn't matter to him.

[Obviousman]

2. With Bush's supreme control of the media

If he wants to talk about domestic issues, we will hear about domestic issues. Iraq could disappear off the face of the earth and it wouldn't get coverage if the administration wants to focus on domestic issues.
William Donohue

[Mz Pip]

3. Perhaps there is

a very sad silver lining to his stupid war. If it takes his draconian domestic agenda off the table it is at least a small consolation for all the havoc he has caused in the world.

Maybe he'll have some regrets that he started his dumbass war. Then again, probably not.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[muse]

4. All I did was read that headline this morning and say "duh",

no kidding. Surprise, Mr. President. Anybody with any sense would have realized there wasn't going to be any room in the budget or any time or attention paid to a domestic agenda. Not with the what was inevitably going to be worsening situation in Iraq. I'm almost happy he gets to be the one to live with the mess he created rather than Kerry. Almost.

[madrchsod]

5. they are all a bunch

of dumb fucks. i have lost all respect for anyone who voted for the carnage these guys are doing to the iraqi`s and the united states. i don`t have enough time left in my life to forgive anyone who voted for them. we all knew this was going to happen and we tried to stop them and they did nothing to stop him. they are all just dumb fucks.

[TwentyFive]

6. Scary!!! If they can't protect their own military bases, how can they

protect our cities?

The military strategy is not working. If anything, it's making the war on terror worse. I suggest the troops pack up and leave, and Bush call John Kerry and give him his job.

[cliss]

7. I don't know whether to feel

vindictively happy that Bush got what he deserved. Or, worried for the rest of us, who are going to collectively pay the price for this fool and his deeds.

I guess it's a little of both.

An interesting thought came to me as I was driving to work yesterday. It occurred to me that this country has not had a president these last 4 years.

Oh, we've had a guy in there, a "hologram", but not really a leader. Bush will stand there and pretend. Then, as soon as the press conference is over, he runs over to his corporate buddies and plots his next move. "What can we rape and pillage next?" they ask.

Leadership? Think of Bush, sitting in the classroom in Florida, as New York was under attack. He sat there, frozen with fear over his own ass.

Think of a horse running with its reins hanging at its sides. Or a ship with the wheel spinning. A car with no driver at the wheel.

Scary.

[AlinPA]

8. This is B S. The White House controls the broadcast media and

much of print media. They will saturate the US with anything they want.

[Neecy]

9. and history repeats itself...

One word: LBJ. Remember how the Great Society fell by the wayside because of Vietnam? Different guy, same outcome: no domestic agenda can survive a bloody, unpopular and failed war.

[mediaman007]

11. Two Texans...meglomaniacs!

What is it with these Texans, who have such high opinions of themselves and such little regard for the rest of the World? Both of these guys talked tough and tried to beat the rest of the World into submission.

The only difference: LBJ could read the handwriting on the wall.

Sad for all of us.

[shrike]

12. As awful as he was, LBJ had a shred of a conscience

Vietnam haunted him. The song, "Hey, Hey, LBJ/How many kids did you kill today" haunted him. Bush has no conscience.

[American Tragedy]

13. If you really study LBJ you'll find that he was a profoundly tragic figure

He definitely should be held responsible for the escalation of the Vietnam War, along with members of his administration, especially Robert 'The Fog of War' McNamara, who could have persuaded Johnson to stop in the beginning.

However, as egomaniacal as he was, he did have a real social conscience. Johnson had wanted to help young people, minorities, and the poor, and he was painfully aware that the war devastated all of them. He ultimately paid a heavy price for his failure in personal suffering, losing both his political career and his physical health.

I'm not defending him, just saying that he was a complex character, certainly more so than the current occupant of the White House.

[0007]

16. ....LBJ did care for the poor - but he was another fucked up Texan

with many organized crime connections like junior and his gang of thugs.

[hatrack]

14. Bush's "new" problem? Did Rip vanWinkle write this?

Or was it just Judith Miller again? :eyes:

[Ripley]

15. YA THINK?

Jaysus Farking Keerist!

Even with their stranglehold of the media, The War cannot be erased. Families do have funerals.

[Lucille]

17. Shorter NYT: Death and failure complicate *' s political fortunes nt

nt

[The_Casual_Observer]

18. Who is chimp trying to kid? The domestic stuff will go the way of

the flight to mars or the moon or what ever he promised last year. All the money and effort is going to the leveling of all the cities in Iraq, there isn't time or money to do anything else.