Desperate presidents resort to desperate rhetoric — which then calls new attention to their desperation. President Bush joined the club this week by citing the U.S. failure in Vietnam to justify staying on in Iraq.
Bush’s comparison of the two conflicts rivals Richard Nixon’s "I am not a crook" utterance during Watergate and
‘s "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," in producing unintended consequences of a most damaging kind for a sitting president.
And why? Because…
Bush has called attention to the elephant that will be sitting in the room when his administration makes its politically vital report on Iraq to the nation next month. For Americans, the most important comparison will be this one: As Vietnam did, Iraq has become a failure even on its own terms — whatever those terms are at any given moment.
Meanwhile, there is a huuuuge clash abrewin’ within the White House. General Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the highest non-civilian military role there is, bar none) wants to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq next year by almost half, while General Patraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, will likely call for higher troop levels in Iraq in 2008. Bush, of course, will support Patraeus — one of the few top brass in the military who actually prefers escalation in Iraq.