In the Bunker

To pick up on the Digby post, it really beggars belief that this administration thought that "Old Europe" would agree with a preemptive war in western Asia that would destabilize an already tenuous region that lies much closer to them than it does to us. Obviously, destabilization and refugee issues impact that region (particularly France) and those concerns would have been paramount at the time Bush was attempting to browbeat the European allies into the Coalition of the Willing. Each of those nations have intelligence agencies who did review the available information and either found the Italian story on Niger, the aluminum tubes fiction, and the links between Saddam and Al Queda, or all three to be either seriously in question or outright lies.

But of course it goes further. Bush not only asked for European aide in his adventure, he demanded it. As Digby says:

I don't think enough attention has been given to that particular bit of Bushian hubris. He truly believed that he could force the rest of the world to come in and help pay for his misdaventure after the fact with troops and money. I don't know why any country would want to take on such a moral hazard, and they very obviously didn't, but Bush had so bought into his own hype that he believed he was not only the undisputed and sole leader of America, he thought he was Emperor of the world.


The American people must understand when I said that we need to be patient, that I meant it. And we're going to be there for a while. I don't know the exact moment when we leave, David, but it's not until the mission is complete. The world must know that this administration will not blink in the face of danger and will not tire when it comes to completing the missions that we said we would do. The world will learn that when the United States is harmed, we will follow through.

The world will see that when we put a coalition together that says "Join us," I mean it. And when I ask others to participate, I mean it

So no one should be surprised at this piece on a recent meeting between big shot Texas donors and the boy king which didn't go so well:

we're hearing that some big money players up from Texas recently paid a visit to their friend in the White House. The story goes that they got out exactly one question, and the rest of the meeting consisted of The President in an extended whine, a rant, actually, about no one understands him, the critics are all messed up, if only people would see what he's doing things would be OK...etc., etc.

Crikes, he's sounding more like Nixon each day....