New York Times Throws In The Towel
After weeks of dithering around the subject, the New York Times decides to say "fuck it" to the whole Eye-Rack war experiment and the impending escalation after they saw Bush's deer-in-the-headlights speech this night. This time they bring out the long knives:
President Bush told Americans last night that failure in Iraq would be a disaster. The disaster is Mr. Bush’s war, and he has already failed. Last night was his chance to stop offering more fog and be honest with the nation, and he did not take it.Americans needed to hear a clear plan to extricate United States troops from the disaster that Mr. Bush created. What they got was more gauzy talk of victory in the war on terrorism and of creating a “young democracy� in Iraq. In other words, a way for this president to run out the clock and leave his mess for the next one.
. . .We have argued that the United States has a moral obligation to stay in Iraq as long as there is a chance to mitigate the damage that a quick withdrawal might cause. We have called for an effort to secure Baghdad, but as part of the sort of comprehensive political solution utterly lacking in Mr. Bush’s speech. This war has reached the point that merely prolonging it could make a bad ending even worse. Without a real plan to bring it to a close, there is no point in talking about jobs programs and military offensives. There is nothing ahead but even greater disaster in Iraq.
Indeed, now when will the rest of the media elite follow suit?