Bush Still Intent on "Victory in Iraq"

Well, it's not like he hasn't had plenty of advice to the contrary, but President George Bush made in clear today he's still dreaming of victory in Iraq.

“I believe we are going to win. I believe that — and, by the way, if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t have our troops there. That’s what you got to know. We’re going to succeed.”

I suspect what this really means is that Bush intends to succeed in keeping America's army tied down in Iraq so that his successor can take the heat for pulling them out.

Bush warned that continuing the occupation “would require difficult choices and additional sacrifices because the enemy is merciless and violent.” Naturally the sacrifices he has in mind are to be borne at the footsoldier level, not the taxpayers. Requiring a sacrifice of the most advantaged taxpayers by scrubbing the tax breaks for the rich simply is not on. It just wouldn't be right to ask the wealthy to sacrifice when the cost of the whole war is going to be shouldered by a future generation of lowly wage earners anyway.