Relaxing in the midst of like-minded folk, the President let on yesterday that he sees himself as leading a third great religious awakening. So says the Washington Post, in "Bush Tells Group He Sees a 'Third Awakening'" (Sept. 13). Lest the Great Crusader be misunderstood,
aides said Bush was not casting the war [against Islamo-fascism] as a religious struggle but was describing American cultural changes in a time of war . "He's drawing a parallel in terms of a resurgence, in dangerous times, of people going back to their religion," said one aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was not open to other journalists. "This is not 'God is on our side' or anything like that."
Of course not. The Post also relates that
On another topic, Bush rejected sending more troops to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas to find Osama bin Laden. "One hundred thousand troops there in Pakistan is not the answer."
One hundred thousand troops in Iraq is the answer? No? What then is the answer? The President continued:
"It's someone saying 'Guess what' and then the kinetic action begins," he said, meaning an informer disclosing bin Laden's location.
The Post's English translation is helpful if incomplete. It suggests Bush's presumable answer to neoCon William Kristol's call for a further infusion of troops to rescue the former Iraq. Kristol has a point: If "the safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad," as the President told the nation on Sept. 11, 2006, wouldn't it make sense to send reinforcements when that battle is being lost? Or do you suffer defeat "with the army you have"? Surely some bold journalist will someday ask Bush this question. Until then, we may surmise that more troops there aren't the answer: the thing to do is to wait for the "Guess what" that means an informer has disclosed the location of,....well, you know, the evildoers. Then you'll see some kinetic action, maybe of the kind that began when bin Laden was cornered in Tora Bora. Which was...sending a hundred thousand troops to Iraq?
Meanwhile, the Vice President has disclosed that at least part of his job is to "think about the unthinkable" --you know, the out-of-the-box stuff Herman Kahn dug but John Nance Garner never was much into. Wilde's foxhunters have now turned to quail, and the unspeakable are in full pursuit of the unthinkable. Somebody wake me when the kinetic action begins.
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