Posted at 8:36 am on Thursday, January 11, 2007, in Uncategorized, and tagged bush, iraq.
Bush’s big speech last night — calling for an escalation in the war for Iraq — has not been received well. At all. (I was unable to see the speech. Believe it or not, “primetime” isn’t primetime everywhere in the U.S.)
Image: Time
Howard Fineman…
“George W. Bush spoke with all the confidence of a perp in a police lineup. I first interviewed the guy in 1987 and began covering his political rise in 1993, and I have never seen him, in public or private, look less convincing, less sure of himself, less cocky. With his knitted brow and stricken features, he looked, well, scared. Not surprising since what he was doing in the White House library was announcing the escalation of an unpopular war.“
Time…
“Warning Americans that 2007 would be another year of continued violence, bloodshed and American casualties, President Bush unveiled his ‘new way forward’ on Iraq Wednesday evening. But the speech was as much a testament of failure as it was a blueprint for what to do next.“
Across America…
“A new Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted following the President’s speech finds broad and strong opposition to his call to send about 21,500 more troops to Iraq: 61 percent oppose the force increase, with 52 percent ‘strongly’ opposing the build-up.“
And in Iraq (which may be a tad important)…
“Iraq’s government welcomed President Bush’s new strategy and promised it was committed to making sure it succeeds. But ordinary Iraqis gave it mixed reviews, with many expressing skepticism that an increase in U.S. troops would quell the violence ransacking their country.“
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January 11th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Pity that you couldn’t watch the President (it would’ve been around 6:00 pm–or rush hour–in your part of the country) as he delivered his speech, since much of the more interesting subtext always comes in his delivery, his mannerisms, and his body language. He looked very nervous and very uncomfortable, unlike the confident persona he projected in the campaign. In my opinion, he also said nothing new or revelatory, other than the dispatch of more troops to Iraq, and seemed not to have paid any attention to any of the counsel he’s received over these past few weeks. This is a “new way forward?” It seems to me that we’re stuck in neutral!