Bush spent much of the SOTU address yesterday crowing about the achievements of the Iraqis in having an election on Sunday. His toadies in the Republican party (which means pretty much all of them - they may soon rename themselves the Georgedubyabushican party) celebrated by waving around purple fingers (to go with the purple-heart bandaids they wore at the RNC, no doubt)
To listen to Bush speak these days, you'd think that democracy for Iraq was the only reason he started the invasion. And given that it's the last remaining reason, this'll have to do.
But, once again, this is simply Bush finding a parade and getting in front of it. Just like education reform in Texas and the Department of Homeland Security, when Bush found that the idea was unstoppable, he simply claimed it for his own.
Joe Conason explains it after the jump
Joe Conason explains it all in the
NYObserver The key sentences: "To the extent that the Bush administration had conceived any plan for post-Saddam Iraq--which wasn't much--it envisioned installing an interim regime of favored exiles such as Ahmed Chalabi. These individuals, of varying reliability and dubious legitimacy, were supposed to write a constitution, which might someday be subjected to actual referendum."
Of course, when pressure from actual Iraqis made this untenable, the decision was made to hold elections. And that's what Bush is holding up as the reason for the invasion.
And he'll get away with it, and I'm sure he'll continue to do this. Watch: When Social Security deform is put down like the dog it is, Bush will crow that he's the 'Saviour of Social Security.'
Apologies to dogs, of course.