Staying The Course. Not

[poliphilo]

It has been noted that president Bush is no longer using that mantra about staying the course in Iraq. Last night I saw a clip from a news conference where a White House spokesman acknowledged this and said it was because the mantra was being "misunderstood".

Tony Blair is still saying that Britain will stand firm until the job is done- whatever that means. I guess he hasn't received his orders yet. 

It would be nice to think that Iraq was the last colonial adventure- that the Western powers will have learned  that it's no longer in their power (if indeed it ever was) to march into countries they barely understand and sort them out.

I'm not going to argue the pros and cons of Imperialism. I'm not sure I could, anyway. I have all sorts of conflicting ideas. 

The point is that that phase of human history is over. It ended fifty years ago. The Empires have been dismantled, The colonial wars have  been lost. 

It's time for the White Man to put down his self-appointed burden, sit on his hands and mind his own business.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that the Bush administration has been the worst in living memory. Other administrations have committed equal or greater crimes but no other has been so singularly incompetent. Johnson killed more people than Bush has done, but would he have tolerated the debacle in New Orleans? I don't think so.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

I'll second this wholeheartedly. Mistake after mistake after mistake, coupled with a flat refusal to reconsider a tactical or ideological position when circumstance demands it. I wish I could fathom what the Bush Administration is thinking, but whether through incompetance, corruption, or a combination of both, it's easily the worst Presidency I've had the misfortune to live through.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

They're a bunch of ideologues who won't listen to advice, fronted by a man who simply isn't up to the job.