We now have the spectacle of the Unitary Executive being opposed by the American people, the Democratic Party, the Wise Old Men of Washington, and now members of his own party in the Senate, including Sam Brownback and now, it seems (according to Joe Klein's interpretation, always chancy), John Warner. Kennedy and Murtha are working on different versions of the same idea, viz., that the President has to come to Congress with details (as opposed to, say, Joe Klein's argument that it is up to those opposed to the war who have to have details) before a dime is spent on escalation. Pundits are starting to notice that a President doing what the country most explicitly says it does not want done is problematic.
The most interesting thing about the speech, noted by Crooks and Liars, Think Progress, and Talking Points Memo, was the ramping up of the verbal threats against Syria and Iran, as well as a move against an Iranian consulate in northern Iraq. Last summer, I took Arthur Silber to task for his fear that the United States would use the Israel-Lebanon war as an excuse for military action against Iran. I noted that, while such an action has been part of the Republican dreamland for a quarter century, there were too many political, diplomatic, and military logistical reasons for not doing so. It seems, however, that I overestimated Bush Administration's reliance upon reality, and it now seems we are going to do even more stupid things we should not do.
It is bad enough we have an un-democratic President acting against the wishes of the majority of the people, and even against most of his own party. It is bad enough we are to force-feed 21,500 more troops into the gaping maw of the Iraqi sinkhole, not to mention the billions of dollars for which there is no accountability (at least until Congress ramps up oversight hearings). It is bad enough Bush wants us to believe him when he says he has a new plan, when more people is not a plan, but the military equaivalent of faking a punt on fourth and forty and hoping it works. Now, it seems, the nightmare of Arthur Silber may actually come to pass, entering the real world as military action against one or perhaps two of Iraq's neighbors. The results of such insane military irresponsibility are hard to imagine, and I need to time to get a grip on the situation myself. I mean, we could turn the entire world against us, and then where will we be? This is not some kid's game Bush is playing here. There are real dangers, horrible dangers here. Not just provinding more targets for insurgent snipers and IEDs; I am talking about provoking world-wide action against the United States . . . I can't even finish this sentence because the implications of it are too horrible.
I didn't want to believe Bush would be this insane. I didn't want to believe Bush would ignore everyone and do the least productine, most harmful thing he could possibly do. I didn't want to believe Bush would threaten the US with universal condemnation. Call me naive, but I just didn't want to believe that his detachment from reality had gone so far. I fear we are entering very dangerous waters, and we need to do something to stop this before it gets out of hand.
UPDATE: Steve Clemons at The Washington Note has a partial transcript from today's hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is, ahem, less than forthcoming concerning the President's intentions towards Iran and Syria. Toward the bottom of the piece, just before the transcript of the exchange, Clemons writes:
Bush may really have pushed the escalation pedal more than any of us realize.
Indeed.
