Musings 167--No end in sight and the draft.

The news media didn't seem to catch the most important phrase in President Bush's press conference, yesterday. He said, during a rambling answer to a reporter's question, that we will not leave Iraq as long as he is president. (See Link) That is quite telling. It is the first time that Bushie has stated what we all have suspected all along. The war in Iraq will be some other president's mess to clean up.

Here is the exact quote: President Bush said, "We're not leaving [Iraq] so long as I'm the president. That would be a huge mistake." His term ends almost two-and-a-half years from now, in January 2009.

Then, hot on the heels of that declaration, the Marines Corps announced that they will now call up 2,500 ready reservists for more tours in Iraq. Some of these being called up will be going for the third or fourth time.

The ready reserves are the quys that have served their four years and have gotten out. They then serve four more years of inactive reserve duty. Basically, they just serve on paper and are never called--until now. Bushie has invented his own back-door draft.

A veterans group told ABC News (See Link) that they feel that this is just the first step to re-establishing the draft.

It kind of reminds me of another president, Lyndon Johnson, who left a mess for Richard Nixon to clean up. By the time Nixon pulled our troops out of Viet Nam, the draft had all but depleted a generation of our young men. We have not learned much from our follies.

The president is telling us that there is no end in sight to a war that could very well last for generations. Well, it won't last generations. Some president sometime, probably the next, will declare victory and bring our troops home. Of course, that will be a little late for all those that have died. Plus, it will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of all the folks that see it as "cutting and running."

The price of Bushie's messing around in the mid-east will continue to take a toll on folks for generations. Vets will grumble that we should have blown them all "to hell." The libs will say it couldn't have been won anyway. And, Bushie...oh, yeah. He will be a retired president, sitting in Texas, sipping ice tea and critiquing the job of the next president. So in two and half years, it is over for him. Life goes on, even if you're a Bush, but not if you're a dead soldier.

If there really is a God, maybe he will allow the dead to haunt Bushie to his grave. It only seems right.