Americans don't know what America is up to, either!
Bush says the NIE finding that Iran has not re-started its nuclear weapons program since 2003 makes no difference; he continues to rattle rockets. At the same time, Democrats are making a deal to provide some limited funds to support the Iraq Occupation [note: none of us should call this a "war" any longer; language makes a difference]. Democratic leaders in Congress are now negotiating with Bush and the GOP to pass a budget bill that would include $70 billion for the occupation, no strings attached.
What happened to the "no-more-money-for-the-war" line they were trumpeting, with moderate success, over the $50 billion and withdrawal timeline the GOP blocked?
Caved again?
Do Congressional Democrats believe the Republican line that the President holds all the cards? It's true they're unpopular, but so is he. Are they afraid of the mainstream media? They shouldn't be; they won an election in part on the promise to bring the troops home; they're unpopular because they didn't do it.
The occupation tastes sour in everyone's mouths--except Bush's and a small select coterie of yes-men/women who have their careers on the line (like Gen. Petraeus), or money in play (like executives and owners of security firms like Blackwater and defense contractors like Raytheon and Bechtel).
Even the troops and their families want them home.
Americans, really, would like nothing better than to have nothing to do with Iraq or Iran, or Israel and Palestine, for that matter. For those who argue that American military withdrawal from the Mideast would be dangerous and that American isolationism is the last thing this world needs, two points need to be made:
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