As Baghdad sizzles, Condi fiddles and Bush piddles over “Long War” riddle

The Bush Administration has been trying to have it both ways since 9/11 in the security vs. liberty argument. At home their covert actions have been suggesting to us for some time that in order to ensure our security, we need to sacrifice some of our liberties. But then abroad, they have been pushing liberty at a tremendous expense of security – where far more innocent, non-American lives are being lost on a daily basis. This high incidence of “collateral damage” is not only morally repugnant, but also a cause for increasing disenchantment with America around the world.

To therefore help keep an increasingly skeptical American public engaged, the Bush Administration has begun drawing parallels between the longevity of the Cold War and what some in the Administration have been referring to lately as the “Long War” (a.k.a. the “War on Terror”). In any event, they cannot continue to unilaterally violate a sacrosanct principle common to these two ideological struggles: the preservation of liberty as enshrined in the Constitution. Ironically, the preservation of liberty – which their oxymoronic “Long War” policy now seeks to curtail in order to secure – was the rai•son d'être for the Cold War.

The genesis of the “Long War” was an attempt by the Bush Administration to establish a dubious link between Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda and 9/11. This blatantly false equivalence was used as a rationalization to divert the true “war on terror” from Afghanistan to Iraq. To make matters worse, after no WMD were found in Iraq, the Bush Administration changed its phony primary objective to an even harder, secondary objective of “establishing democracy” in Iraq. In recent Senate testimony, the top two Pentagon officials politely suggested that it is hard for a democracy to function in the midst of a civil war. This stark testimony leaves President Bush with a Hobson’s choice – to continue to promote “democracy” or try to contain a civil war.

Is it any wonder then that almost 60% of the American public now believes that the Iraq war was a mistake? In the light of which, it is quite surprising that Senator Lieberman, a strong supporter of President Bush’s “Long War” policy, lost his primary bid for reelection in a deep blue state by only a narrow four point margin. One could conclude that Senator Lieberman took his constituents for granted and paid a price for it. However, based on his post-primary remarks, “For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand” it appears that Bush-style hubris has infected Senator Lieberman as well.

The morning after his humiliating loss in the primary, Senator Lieberman proclaimed, “I am even more devoted to my state and my country,” as his justification for making an independent run in November. Senator Lieberman may think that he is putting his country first, but he is definitely putting himself second, and his party last among his priorities. He does not seem to care how his selfish power grab might affect the chances of his Democratic Party in winning back the Congress – ironically, from those very Republicans he now hopes will help elect him as an independent senator.

As far as the “Long War” is concerned, it’s quite apparent that both parties are playing politics with what “The Daily Show” host, Jon Stewart, so presciently called “Mess-O-Potamia” shortly after it began. Many people now see President Bush’s “Long War” strategy as trying to “stay the course”, even if it’s a failing one, for the next two-and-one-half years – then to “get outta Dodge” and leave it to the next administration to clean up the mess. Personally, I had an epiphany while watching Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a recent Sunday morning talk show. It seemed to me like she was fiddling while Baghdad was going up in flames. One can only hope that the larger American public will resist political fear mongering, as was witnessed in the aftermath of the foiled London plot last week, and hold the Bush Administration’s feet to this messianic fire of its own volition. As Baghdad sizzles, we can no longer afford to have Condi fiddle and Bush piddle with the “Long War” riddle – they either solve it or “Lamont” (i.e. lament) the consequences of a November tsunami!

Fear Leader

The Bush Administration currently has foreign policy crises of gargantuan proportions on its hands: a worsening Iraqi sectarian war, a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, a defiant Iran in pursuit of nuclear weapons, belligerent North Korea launching missiles, and an Israeli-Lebanon war provoked by Iran and Syria. This sordid mess is both, direct and indirect fallout from a doctrine of unintended consequences – which is, nothing else but a catastrophic failure in the execution of the Bush Doctrine. All manner of pundits are seeing this preemption strategy for what it is now, but in the immediate aftermath of our glorious, albeit incomplete, triumph in Afghanistan it was largely praise when President Bush first outlined his provocative “axis of evil” policy. In an article, “State of the World”, written immediately after his 2002 State of the Union speech, I had made the following observations:

Buoyed by stratospheric approval ratings in his execution of the war on terrorism, President Bush now appears to be milking the “terror cow” for what it’s worth! At least one got that impression after listening to the President touch briefly on a few domestic issues in the middle of his speech, while devoting most of his attention to the “state of the world”!

One would like to give kudos to the President’s speechwriters for coming up with a quotable gem like “axis of evil”. However, one must wonder if the President and his advisors have really considered all the implications of engaging such a disparate axis in protracted, simultaneous, and geographically dispersed wars, if it became necessary? Are we ready to walk that talk?

More than fours years later, it has become quite apparent that we are in the midst of the very situation that I had warned about and President Bush’s responses thus far have more or less proven that he is unable to “walk that talk”. The whole world has had a good laugh at the expense of the despot, Kim Jong Il who insists on being referred to as “Dear Leader” by his people. Ironically, it is “we the people” of the United States who elected our very own “Fear Leader” – he, who intended to strike fear among the hearts of all the world’s evil dictators with his post-9/11 policies, but in reality has managed to largely scare his own citizenry with conveniently-timed reminders of how these evil dictators are out to harm America.

Not surprisingly the domestic fear-mongering is wearing thin and even neo-conservatives who fashioned the original Bush Doctrine are beginning to wonder, in the light of the current crises, whether the President has the will to see it through. Already former Speaker and 2008 presidential contender, Newt Gingrich is talking about “World War III” and other pundits have compared the current turmoil similar to the one that sparked World War I. Given these dire pronouncements, it might be time for President Bush to stop, not only leading with fear but also fearing to lead – his presidency, his legacy, and most importantly our status as the world’s only remaining superpower is at stake.

Family Ties Redux

What better time to reminisce about a great sitcom from the eighties than on Father’s Day – which happens to be tomorrow – after all, 'Steven Keaton' was ranked #12 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue). But this is not only about me. While I confess to being moderately liberal, my own parents ensured that I never experimented with the hippie thing. Although this might sound unbelievable, I did have friends in 1970s Bombay who went that route! So what sparked my trip down memory lane?

My son, Jay (Alex P. Keaton), just completed his sophomore year at the University of Maryland, College Park – where he intends to graduate with a major in Finance. Jay opened his own Scottrade account this year, recently took up golf, and is interning at a prominent DC investment banking firm this summer. Meanwhile, my daughter, Pia (Mallory Keaton), just finished her sophomore year in the Magnet Program at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring. She will be interning this summer as a congressional page for Representative Albert D. Wynn (D-MD) from our home district.

What does this have to do with the ties that bind? Jay recently wrote a blog, “Two Minute Bush Quiz”, in which he asked his readers to partake in The George W. Bush Loyalty Quiz. I was surprised, but not alarmed, to find that Jay rated our President a 6 on a 10 scale. As the author of the “The Bush Diaries”, I was naturally keen on my evaluation of the President through this wacky poll. Not unexpectedly, I ranked the Decider a 4 out of 10 which, given my already published account of the President’s dismal job performance, appeared to be a fair reckoning. But then along came our Mallory (Pia), and she low-balled the President with a 2 ranking on the same quiz! That’s when I had this Family Ties epiphany – and with apologies to Billy Vera & the Beaters for a slightly distorted version of their classic “At This Moment” – along the lines of which, I offer this confession:

What did you think I would say at this moment?
When I'm faced with the knowledge
That I have a son who might be a Republican
And a daughter who is a bleeding heart liberal
I guess that puts me right in the middle
If I just could live with it

If I could just live with it, again

Happy Father’s Day, folks!

The Coincidental Pundit – my literal 15 minutes!

My book “The Bush Diaries” was published back in July 2005. As a self-published author, who also holds a day job, I have had no opportunity so far to market or promote it. But recently, I was referred by a friend to the producers of a local TV program – Darshan TV – which caters to the Indian-American community. I was interviewed by Darshan TV host, Ramesh Butani, about my book for the program’s “In Conversation” segment, which aired today.

After watching my own TV debut, I happened to be reading today’s New York Times editorial page – lo and behold, John Tierney has a column entitled, “The People's Pundit”. Folks, it doesn’t get any more surreal than this because Mr. Tierney writes:

“His performance made it clear that television networks have been wasting money on professional commentators. Why not give everyone their 15 minutes of punditry? The only preparation the masses need is a video of Goma's debut”

If you watch my video debut with Mr. Butani, all you need to do is replace “Goma” with “Jack” and I am good to go. In fact, I do make an appeal to all the Sunday morning talk show hosts at the end of my Darshan TV interview – which believe it or not is exactly 15 minutes long! Andy Warhol must surely be chuckling up there? But seriously – Bob, George, Mike, and Tim – if you want to disprove this whole fifteen minute thing, give me a call!