Obama's Speech/Iraq War End - GOP Says Bush Owed Thanks

President Obama spoke from The Oval Office on Tuesday - marking the end of combat operations in Iraq.

There was one thing which - although it remained unmentioned - still managed to be the unavoidable and enormous elephant in the Oval Office...

In his address to the nation, President Obama did refer to former President Bush's role as the "decider" who had initiated the Iraq War, yet he concluded his speech without ever calling attention to the actions of the Bush Administration - including the seemingly endless string of blatant lies and and fact-free fear-mongering - used by that Administration to - at first - justify the invasion of Iraq and then, to justify maintaining a huge military presence and occupying the country. (The Bush Administration - especially Dick Cheney and GWB himself - proved on more than a few occasions that they had absolutely no qualms about standing before the national and world press and spinning further fabricated fish-tales as needed after the previous one was exposed.)

When Obama referred to his predecessor, he did so only briefly and without including the little tidbit about him being the same man who deserves to be, ultimately, the one person held responsible for every one of the 4400 dead Americans and countless civilian casualties which were a direct result of Bush's decision to go to war.

President Bush is ultimately responsible, as well, for the countless billions of American dollars which were poured into the Iraq war and/or lost to members of the corrupt leadership there... Billions of dollars which would have better served Americans and American interests if invested in education, job creation, infrastructure, etc. here at home.

In keeping his remarks about Bush brief, President Obama continued to prove his previously-stated interest of looking ahead, not behind.

So, even though he could have taken advantage of these issues, President Obama, instead, chose to take the high road.

Once again, President Obama showed that he - for one - has something called Integrity.

You'd think that such graciousness would be appreciated.

Not so.

Despite having been given this hugely-undeserved pass by the current President during a major public address being watched by millions...

Despite the fact that Obama made the conscious decision not kick Republicans when they're already down - something the GOP would never do if the situation were reversed - Senior GOP members of Congress simply couldn't leave it alone.

Apparently, they misinterpreted President Obama's show of integrity as a sign of weakness - which is understandable, as many of them lack integrity and wouldn't recognize such a valuable character trait even if it were right in front... well, where it was.

The GOP leadership's hot air-filled, self-deluded response to Obama abstaining from beating their dead elephant points to their utter inability to simply sit down, thank their lucky stars and shut the hell up - even if it's in their own best interest to do so.

John Boehner criticized Obama's earlier opposition to the Bush surge which led to this "result" - namely, the end of the war.

Mr. Boehner, I have three words for you: "No Exit Strategy".

And, John Boehner wasn't the only windbag who foolishly tried to draw political capital - in a situation where there was none to be gained.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch "Crazy Mac" McConnell (R-KY) also seemed to feel that former President Bush had in some way been slighted by Obama's omission of his "achievements".

McConnell was all fired up over his perception that President Bush hadn't received the credit due to him for his contributions to this moment and moved quickly to call everyone's attention to what Obama hadn't: namely that without Bush's tireless efforts to initiate the Iraq War, the end of combat operations in Iraq wouldn't have been possible.

McConnell stood in front of a microphone and cameras and said, "I think that we should be thankful that another President had the determination and the will to carry out the plan that made tonight's announcement possible.".

* In other words, what McConnell is saying is that if then-President Bush hadn't brought about the start of the Iraq War, then President Obama wouldn't have this great opportunity to be marking The End of it.

Wow.

The senior Congressional GOP leadership actually wants us to be thankful that President Bush started the Iraq War.

Really? You guys want a "Thank You"?

Well, OK...

Senator Boehner, Senator McConnell (and all others of like mind):

I freely offer my "Thank You, President George W. Bush, For Starting The Iraq War":

Thank You, former President Bush, for setting a global precedent - one which other nations may very well invoke in the future to justify their own military actions - in which a sitting head of state chooses - unilaterally - to initiate an utterly unprovoked bombing & full-scale military invasion of a sovereign nation - a nation which was of no immediate nor direct threat... and for justifying all of it with lie after lie after lie and for having no exit strategy.

Thank You. Thanks a lot.

It is my most sincere hope that you, sir, receive all the credit (and everything else) you deserve for all that you did to make the unprovoked Iraq War a bloody, deadly and hugely-expensive reality... which is now, thankfully, coming to an end.

There, Mitch... John... that pretty much covers it.

Peace.
L.

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