Link: Bush Is Firm as Criticism Over Iraq Mounts
"Mr. Bush said he would talk about ‘the war on terror and our need to succeed in Iraq.’ He has long called the military campaign in Iraq part of a global struggle against terrorism. ‘And I’m going to remind the people in the audience today that troop levels will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington, D.C., and that we’ve got a plan to lead to victory,’ Mr. Bush said, again echoing remarks he has made before. ‘I fully understand that this is a difficult war, and it’s hard on the American people, but I will once again explain the consequences of failure to the American people, and I’ll explain the consequences of success, as well.”
There are so many classic turns of phrase in this single brief quote that it’s difficult to know where to begin (I’m going to set aside the bit where he declares that troop strength is under the purview of those nebulous, traitorous "politicans" instead of the Commander in Chief — which is to say, him).
But this notion of the "consequences of success" has got to be the most unintentionally brilliant political term ever coined. Mull that one over for a second: the consequences of success. It’s almost like Bush knows that we know that Iraq is going to be screwed whether we "succeed" or not, and he’s explaining it to us in his own little secret code. You’re the schoolyard bully, and you’ve successfully stolen the lunch money of every other kid on the playground. Now, my dear bully, you get to deal with the consequences of success.
I would be stunned if both Tom Clancy and Noam Chomsky were not both planning to name their next tomes The Consequences of Success after reading this.
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