Bush And Iraq: 2003 – 2007 (or so)

Old-Order

Six years in, we’ve run through countless comparisons, analogies and metaphors for “43″ — but not all.

What makes Sydney Blumenthal’s Salon piece, “Behind Bush’s ‘New Way Forward,’” so good?

It’s not just his highlighting of Frederick Kagan and a team at the American Enterprise Institute for creating the “troop surge” blue print, or the character analysis of how well the plan fits Bush’s personality, but the point about how Kagan see the “little big man” in the White House as the potential, modern-day incarnation of one of his favorite historical figures.

Napoleon-Hat-43 .

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Blazer Boys

What Goes Around Comes Around

KingElvis

Is it better to be a megalomaniac who is actually a military genius or a megalomaniac with only delusions of grandeur?
Maybe we should count ourselves lucky that Bush is such a bumbler and an idiot – otherwise we might have already ‘won’ Iraq and would now be invading Iran or Syria with a real Napoleon President.
The Kagan book is perfect since so many neocons have “analogies of grandeur” for Bush. Remember how they were casting the Smirk as Churchhill and Hussein as ‘Hitler?’
If Kagan thinks the US could go on a tear like Napoleon did, it only underlines the delusional nature of those who seek some kind of 19th Century glory in the 21st century.
With lines like “We are history actors – we create the reality that you report,” clearly, the devotion of all the US blood and treasure wasn’t about our ‘enemies’ it was about some Grandiose Baby Boomer Neocons who were out to grab glory and a ‘place in history.’
Nero has a ‘place in history’ too – a place of shame and disrepute.
Tina

the hat is interesting–is it just some photoshopped image or is it a real item? If it is real what is it and where did it come from?
thirdeye pushpin

VIVE PETROLEUM BONAPARTE!!!
The BAG

Tina: The hat was worn by Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. The logo came from “The BAG studio.”
http://www.woodka.com donna

The surge is a terrible idea, and one that will only cause further deaths and injuries. If Bush wants to be even more reviled, I guess he’ll get his wish.
But Iraq is a lost cause, the end of the neocon fantasy. The sooner they give up their illusions, the better. More troops only means more pain.
http://ruinsofempire.blogspot.com/ Rafael

The Great and not so Great Men in history. The anology fits. Both promised freedom but delivered Empire, and crowned themselves Emperors. Both failed miserably.
quax

By bringing the Napoleonic code to other countries, Napoleon actually did free many people from serfdom rules and laws that still stemmed from the middle ages. This was certainly the case for Germany. Napoleon was a megalomaniac but one who actually was able to inspire and deliver amazing victories as a military leader in the field.
By exporting the French revolution he undermined the sickly European royalty in a way that they never truly recovered from. As a catalyst of change he probably did as much good as bad. Dubbya on the other had only compares as a cartoonish joke. And the joke is on us.
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2006/11/going_begging.html#comments Blake Incarnate

I can’t believe that in this time, now, America 2007, that this neurotic, infantile, high chair tyrant Bush [Great name thirdeye PETROLEUM BONAPARTE!!!] — anyway simply put, how do we continue to let this fool make these disasterous war decisions that are against the will of 80% of the citizens. I understand how it happens in Iran, but not here.
If I were a woman, I would equate it to being raped and helpless.
http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/ Kevin Hayden

The original Bonaparte had war-seasoned elephants, not under-desk trumpeters.
weisseharre

“…We changed hats and went into a rescue mode.”
weisseharre

“!?!HELL-O!?!”…jose-?
tina

To Blake Incarnate…
If I were a woman….I would equate it with no such thing.
Very lame analogy.