WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 – President Bush defended his policy on Iraq today, declaring that the United States had struck a blow against terrorism in overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. And Mr. Bush said the United States might carry out other pre-emptive strikes.
“No nation can be neutral in the struggle between civilization and chaos,” Mr. Bush told members of the American Legion gathered in St. Louis for the group’s convention.
“We’ve adopted a new strategy for a new kind of war,” Mr. Bush said, to loud applause. “We will not wait for known enemies to strike us again. We will strike them in their camps or caves or wherever they hide, before they hit more of our cities and kill more of our citizens.”
Of course, if we’re going to continue with Bush’s ever-expanding version of Pax Americana, we’re going to need more troops. If you’re in the National Guard, you can officially forget any hope of serving “one weekend a month.” If you’re not already on permanent deployment, you probably will be soon.
Speaking of our Beloved Leader, here’s an interesting tidbit from a story in the Times this morning:
“Even the president is not omnipotent,” Mr. Bolten said of the House opposition to the AmeriCorps money. “Would that he were. He often says that life would be a lot easier if it were a dictatorship. But it’s not, and he’s glad it’s a democracy.”
Often? He often says this? Bad enough that ever said it at all. Something about any president, let alone this one in particular, frequently repeating this “joke” really gives me the creeps…
(Oh, and speaking of Afghanistan — as Atrios notes today, it is now officially a disaster.)