Thursday, April 01, 2004
WMD search: We need more "under promise and over deliver" from these guys
Once again, we are getting reports that the dream of finding WMD is still alive within the Bush Administration. According to Fox, "chief weapons inspector Charles Duelfer told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that his team is finding more evidence of Iraq's interest in weapons of mass destruction before the war."
This is so strained, I almost wonder whether it is April Fool's Day humor.
Lest my scant but elite readership has doubts that TigerHawk has lost his nerve, let me be very clear: I have been and continue to be a supporter of the Iraq war and the continuing American presence there. I always viewed the threat of WMD as part of the legal pretext for the invasion, but I never thought it was central to our strategic reasons for the war. I therefore have been wholly untroubled by their absence, except insofar as the controversy threatens the Bush Administration and, by extension, our stamina for the long war ahead.
At this point, though, the WMD issue has run its course. Americans have now decided whether they think the presence or absence of WMD is relevant to their vote, and very few will change their mind on the topic unless the Bush Administration keeps reminding them of the issue. Enough with the optimism, already! If it comes to pass that we uncover a vast underground storage facility loaded with 10,000 liters of weaponized anthrax, Bush will gain tremendous credibility with American voters -- if not the Washington press corps -- but until that day Administration officials should say as little on the subject as humanly possible.
This is so strained, I almost wonder whether it is April Fool's Day humor.
Lest my scant but elite readership has doubts that TigerHawk has lost his nerve, let me be very clear: I have been and continue to be a supporter of the Iraq war and the continuing American presence there. I always viewed the threat of WMD as part of the legal pretext for the invasion, but I never thought it was central to our strategic reasons for the war. I therefore have been wholly untroubled by their absence, except insofar as the controversy threatens the Bush Administration and, by extension, our stamina for the long war ahead.
At this point, though, the WMD issue has run its course. Americans have now decided whether they think the presence or absence of WMD is relevant to their vote, and very few will change their mind on the topic unless the Bush Administration keeps reminding them of the issue. Enough with the optimism, already! If it comes to pass that we uncover a vast underground storage facility loaded with 10,000 liters of weaponized anthrax, Bush will gain tremendous credibility with American voters -- if not the Washington press corps -- but until that day Administration officials should say as little on the subject as humanly possible.
0 Comments:
