Saturday, June 25, 2005
George Bush still gets it. I subscribe to CNN alerts on keywords like "Iraq" and "Middle East," so I get a good feel for what a news outfit like CNN puts out for stories and headlines -- for what they feel is important to emphasize and what spin they put on it. The stories are, surprise, surprise, overwhelmingly negative. "When are we getting out?" the only important question. The only good Republicans those who cross the lines and start questioning the mission. They are the heroes in CNN's world. That's what I like to call the "Vietnamization" of the Iraq War -- the media's drum-beat to get us out before the job is done and to fulfill their own prophesy that it all just wasn't worth it, and if it would have been worth it, why, they'll do their best to be sure it wasn't.
CNN: Bush rejects timetable to pull out of Iraq
To do so would be "conceding too much to the enemy," Bush said at a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari at the White House.
"This is an enemy that will be defeated."
Bush said the insurgents were trying to scare Iraqis and Americans into giving up their efforts.
"We are there to complete a mission, and it's an important mission," he said. "A democratic Iraq is in the interests of the United States, and it's in the interests of laying the foundation for peace."
Al-Jaafari also said now isn't the "time to fall back."
"We owe it to those who have made sacrifices to continue toward the goals they fought," he said. "I see from up close what's happening in Iraq, and I know we are making steady and substantial progress."...
Maybe some of the doom and gloomers should take a lesson from little El Salvador (Hey, I thought that was one of the countries that was supposed to hate us because of our bad past!)
CNN: El Salvador's leader: Troops to stay in Iraq
"Why should we leave Iraq now when the basic conditions have not been met?" El Salvador's president, Tony Saca, said in an interview with The Associated Press in Paris, where he met with President Jacques Chirac at the end of a three-nation European tour.
Saca said a president, a constitution and a public police force need to be in place in Iraq before his troops will leave.
"I believe that what we begin, we have to finish correctly," Saca said.
He said he would decide in August whether to send a contingent of replacements for the 380 Salvadoran soldiers operating in Iraq mainly in humanitarian roles or leave the current force in place.
"The elections are not enough; democratic processes take time. When the moment comes, I will have to make the decision about pulling out," he said.
