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INDUSTRIAL WASTE
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Blind Hawk

Wednesday, September 22, 2004
President Bush seems to be living fantastical world detached from reality. Don't get me wrong, I like Bush and believe that he is ultimately a better choice than the reanimated cadaver that is John Kerry. But for once, I wish Bush would put aside his canards and blithe assurances and speak honestly about the deterioration of Iraq.

Over the past few weeks -- as the insurgency has grown in strength, as the violence has intensified and proliferated -- President Bush has refused to acknowledge the spiralling chaos and has resorted to repeating the empty platitudes and rhetorical punch-lines that have become a staple of his presidency.

"Democracy is on the march," he declares. Oh really? Then why are American troops fighting daily battles against roving guerillas in the streets of Baghdad? Why have large swathes of Iraq been relinquished to the control of Islamists and various terror gangs? Why do we hear of new beheadings and kidnappings virtually every day? Why are the Iraqi people overwhelming opposed to the U.S. occupation? Why are Iraqi police and military forces deserting the government in droves? Why are the interim authorities increasingly impotent and helpless in the face of the terrorist onslaught? And why are al-Sadr and Zarqawi still at large?

President Bush's rosy picture of "democracy on the march" simply contradicts the dismal reality on the ground -- the reality that we are losing. If Bush were a genuine "war president", as he has labelled himself, then he would be willing to admit his mistakes and to face our grim predicament with the same clarity and unflinching resolve that he has shown in confronting the terrorists.

But instead of fessing-up to the truth and assuming responsibility, Bush has shirked that responsibility and has tried to hide his incompetence behind a smoke-screen of bravado. And that, my friends, is the mark of a fantasist.