Bush: "I'm The Decision Maker" On Iraq

President Challenges Congress Not To Condemn His Plan Before It's Had A Chance To Work

(CBS/AP) 
Petraeus, who will replace Army Gen. George Casey. is just one of the new faces Mr. Bush is bringing to his team of top military and diplomatic officials in Iraq and the Middle East. He has already replaced Donald H. Rumsfeld with Robert Gates as defense secretary, and is changing the top military commander in the Middle East and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Petraeus, 54, has served two previous yearlong tours in Iraq as commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion in March 2003 and as commander of the training program for the Iraqi Army in 2004-05.

After the Nov. 7 elections, Mr. Bush announced he would change his strategy in Iraq, including deployments of the additional troops.

"We'll now have our very best general in charge of the operations in Iraq," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. "If it can't be done under Gen. Petraeus, then it cannot be done at all. We ought to give him a chance to succeed."

Next Tuesday, the committee plans to hear from Navy Adm. William Fallon, Mr. Bush's pick to replace Gen. John Abizaid as the top commander in the Middle East. Casey, nominated to be the next Army chief of staff, is expected to testify on Feb. 1.

Fallon is expected to testify next Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Murtha, both vocal war critics, were in the Iraqi capital Friday at the head of a delegation of House members on a fact-finding mission.

The Pelosi delegation visited the heavily fortified Green Zone, site of the American Embassy, and met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"We come out of the meeting with a greater understanding of the others' point of view," Pelosi, D-Calif., said in brief remarks after the meeting.

[jimibear]

The only other point I would make in distinguishing between Christianity and Islam and saying one has to be "right":

If God isn't "big enough for everyone", then there is no point in His existence at all, in my opinion. I choose to think that (assuming there is a creator) we all have our own understanding of him, her or it, and each person's belief is as valid as everyone else's.

Of course, that view would spoil things for many religious people, unfortunately, as it gives them nothing to feel superior about, and no reason to hate anyone. Of course, humility and charity being cornerstones of most faiths, that SHOULD be ok ... right?

[jimibear]

There's no way to argue with faith. That's neither good nor bad, I suppose, but it really isn't based in logic. Essentially, the answer to "Why do you believe in God" is "Because He tells me to". There's no logic in there, which is not a shot at you, Rick. But you are simply saying, "I believe because I believe" which is a circular and unanswerable argument.

I hope, though, Rick, that you can see how that would appear to someone who doesn't share that faith.

Q: Why do you believe in God?

A: Because He tells me to.

Q: But see, that pre-supposes his existence. What proof do you have to make you believe that these words you follow are from God, not just writings of men.

A: Because the writings say so.

Q: Um, yeah, but again, how do you know the words came from God?

A: Who are we to question the Creator?

Q: OK, excuse me, I have to go do something. (Goes and pounds head on wall for several hours, as better result is acheived than from discussing religion.)

Bottom line, all you folks arguing with Rick: he has decided he believes in God. That is his right. Some of you don't. That is yours.

Can we leave it at that? We'll know when we die who was right.

[firststate]

wayfedup
What if he spells the way he speaks?

[firststate]

The skepticism is his creation. The new "party line" is "looking forward, not looking back." The reason for this new line is his pisspoor decision making to date.

His lousy decisions began with deciding to invade Iraq instead of concentrating on fighting al-Qaeda where they were in Afghanistan, not Iraq, where they weren't, yet.

He decided to deceive the nation into war.

He decided to ignore the generals about troop requirements.

He decided to have Bremmer run the P.A., whose own lousy decisions led to lawlessness, allowing al-Qaeda to get into Iraq and the sectarian tensions to become violent.

He decided that the election meant that he should pretend to make adjustments.

He decided to continue ignoring any other opinions.

With his record, it's no wonder that he prefers to look forward instead of at his past blunders.

The decision maker has made some stupid, irrational decisions. Why will new opportunities for decisions suddenly produce the intended results?

He has demonstrated his incapacity to make intelligent, rational decisions about Iraq and/or the terrorists. The human costs in lives and injuries has been enormous. The financial cost of $3-5 thousand dollars/second is mortgaging future generations.

We've decided that he needs to be reminded that he works for us, the citizens of the United States. He needs to listen to his employers.

[wayfedup]

r_bayless... Touche'! You are right!
How thoughtless of me to expect a sitting president to have AT LEAST a rudimentary command of the English language; Maybe he could take some lessons on "Th' GOOGLE" and better himself! ;-)

[tibu987]

"I am the decision maker".
Yeah, "w", but they are all bad.
Perhaps "w" can make this decision, 'I'm only gonna make the right decisions'.
Probably not.
Two more years of blunder to go and that leaves room for a lot of blunder and more wrong decisions.

[jn122736]

Singinrick

The word %u201Cevolution%u201D like the Word %u201Cg a y%u201D has been distorted to only narrow meaning. They are meaningful and useful words.

Consider this exert from one of my previous posts.
%u201CEvolution is more than just going from walking on all fours to standing upright or changing from ape to man, if that even happened. Just consider the evolution of communication. We evolved from etching pictures and scripts in stone tablets and cave walls, to Computers and the Internet, giving everyone access to unlimited information.--- From walking or riding a donkey to flying in space ships and walking on the moon.--- From cave men/women to what we now consider civilized human beings.

We are not there yet but we are making progress. Who knows, we may eventually learn how we really got here and even answer the age-old question, if god created us then where did god come from?%u201D

You have, with your comments, said that the bible has actually evolved from the old testament to the new testament through the sacrifice of Jesus.

[candojj1]

Oy Vey!

[jn122736]

singinrick
Thank you for verifying my opinion.
I mean no indult or undue criticism.

You shouldn%u2019t make hasty assumptions about my belief, although you are partially correct. Evolution is a fact of life. As a matter of fact, life is continually evolving.

Your faith is precisely the same as the Islamic faith. You each believe your faith is the true and only way into paradice/heaven.

I am blessed/cursed with a logical mind that demands a logical explanation for events in or affecting my life and at the same time a personal aversion against lying. --Which means I cannot say I believe in any extant religion or faith and feel that I am being truthful.

I asked the two questions because I have no answer for either.
Perhaps in the future mankind will evolve intellectually to the point of correctly understanding how we actually came to exist.
In the meantime I would like to suggest that we all endeavor to do the things we do because they are the right things to do. Not just because we will be rewarded when we do or punished when we don%u2019t.

[wayfedup]

'Get over to the zone as quickly as possible, and implement a plan that will achieve our goals,"' Mr. Bush said.



Did you NEOCONS catch that?!"implement "A PLAN" that will achieve "OUR GOALS!" BUSH HAS NO PLAN EITHER!!!He said, "A PLAN!"


I'm going to KEEP posting this until one of "them" speaks up...

I'm WAAAAAITING.............?