Read the exchange between Average American and AZ Moderate in June's lighthearted description of how President Bush is laying the groundwork for WWIII. /content/p/5031/catid/2/artid/2405

Average American, ever the caricature of unconditional rightwing dependencies, provides a laughable counterpoint for those, like AZ Moderate, who understand what's happening and aren't afraid to speak Truth to Power. bushBJob

A survey of the week's news shows that Power, like AA, just isn't listening.

The New York Times reported early this week that, during a private Oval Office meeting with Tony Blair in January of 2003, Bush made it clear he was determined to invade Iraq with or without a UN resolution - and even if international arms inspectors failed to find WMDs in Iraq.

Bush and Blair envisioned a quick victory, a transition to a new Iraqi government and Bush predicted that it was "unlikely there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups." Blair agreed.

http://www.nytimes.com/...
With his vision of post-invasion Iraq contradicted by an insurgency that he didn't anticipate and also by violent sectarian rivalries that he disregarded before the invasion, Bush has come up with a new rhetorical line of attack: It's not my fault, it's Saddam's.

This spin came on the heels of the Times' article in his remarks before the Freedom House Foundation:

"Today, some Americans ask whether removing Saddam caused the divisions and instability we're now seeing. In fact, much of the animosity and violence we now see is the legacy of Saddam Hussein. He is a tyrant who exacerbated sectarian divisions to keep himself in power."

"The argument that Iraq was stable under Saddam and that stability is now in danger because we removed him is wrong. While liberation has brought its own set of challenges, Saddam Hussein's removal from power was the necessary first step in restoring stability and freedom to the people of Iraq."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060329-6.html

So Bush didn't see it coming. Now he says it was foreordained -- and not his fault? AA may caricature extreme rightwing rhetoric but the President, elected leader of the only remaining superpower, Commander-in-Chief of the free world, the man with his finger on the nuclear trigger, lives it!

Incidentally, according to Freedom House, which tracks freedom across the globe, Iraq still gets a failing grade of "Not Free." It finds modest gains in Iraq but warns that that they "could be wiped out if the current level of violence escalates into outright civil conflict among Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds."

http://65.110.85.181/uploads/pdf/essay2006.pdf

Freedom House tells it like it is.
Bush assesses blame.
Average American asks, "What do I know…"

I report, you decide!