More verbal sputum from the Preznit

James Wolcott views Bush's interview on ITV, and the twitches, tics and blinks on display, and wonders about possible organic mental difficulties (other than the normal arrogance, malapropisms, confabulation, and limited intelligence, I assume).

I watched the clip in question at Crooks & Liars. The thing that I hadn't locked onto before was the reason President Fudd posited for the intense terrorist/insurgent activity in Iraq: "they want to drive us out of the region."

Hold the phone.

Now the goal -- the reason we are taking these heavy casualties and paying this high price -- is for the United States to have a presence in the Persian Gulf?

I never heard that one advanced as a reason to go to war. I never heard of anyone explaining to the families of the 1700 dead soldiers that they died so that we could have a presence in the region. And I have no idea how he thinks he can square this with any legal justification for what we have done.

One thing to be said for this explanation of the Bush policy is that it is entirely consistent with his refusal to discuss withdrawal, because it compels the conclusion that his intention is that we will never withdraw. If the goal is to have a presence, all the window dressing about democracy is just that -- our troops will stay regardless.