If you hear a loud popping noise...

It is probably my head exploding. Didn't we just have a watershed election, where at least some of us made it clear that this shit in Iraq didn't make sense anymore? Haven't we been saying, more and more loudly, that we are tired of this horrible waste of money and life? We have been lied to, frightened purposely, and made to feel disagreement was treason.

Now, from the looks of it, that dumb son of a bitch is going to ignore everything that went before, and try to send MORE troops to Iraq. To expand the military.

To quote MSN news:
Bush said he has ordered Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to develop a plan to increase the troop strength of the Army and Marine Corps, heeding warnings from the Pentagon and Capitol Hill that multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan are stretching the armed forces toward the breaking point. "We need to reset our military," said Bush, whose administration had opposed increasing force levels as recently as this summer.

So instead of listening to the Iraq Study Group, the people of America, the people of Iraq, and everyone else who has more than four working brain cells, he's going to send more troops over there.

Where is he going to get them? Recruitment levels are falling, and the people we have plus those that are joining are not going to go around forever. So what is he going to do? Frighten us some more? I think that ship has sailed. Start a draft? I'd like to see that. I don't think the American people, especially those registered for Selective Service, would stand it. Stop loss the ones there forever? I don't think so. Too many National Guard and Reserve families are having their lives messed up as it is. And don't tell me about "They signed up for it". My husband was in the Guard after he left active duty. It's no mystery to me.

To quote again:
"I've got more consultations to do with the national security team, which will be consulting with other folks. And I'm going to take my time to make sure that the policy, when it comes out, the American people will see that we . . . have got a new way forward."

A new way forward? Who is he trying to kid? The hard core hawks and the idiots who believe anything that comes out of his mouth? The acolytes of Hannity, Bill-o, and Rush? This is not a new way forward. It is an expensive game of cover your ass. He invaded when he didn't need to, didn't send enough folks to get the job done correctly, and then let us get bogged down in a mess. Meanwhile, Iraqis are being killed everyday by their own countrymen, and they are taking our guys with them. I hate to break the bad news, but it is a civil war now, and our meddling started it. We can't end it. And the war we started ostensibly to root out the bad guys who did attack us is forgotten. The Taliban and terrorists are regrouping, and they are coming back.

So let's review. We are needlessly getting our soldiers killed everyday, in part because we wrote checks our military couldn't cash. Billions upon billions of dollars are gone, and we have a deficit my grandkids are going to be paying off, if we aren't owned outright by another country by then. All of it for what? Saddam's show trial? The elusive Osama bin Laden? Summer vacation?

And this asshole wants to make it bigger. What a fucking genius. Start praying, if you aren't already. I have a bad feeling it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. good night and good luck...stimp