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For what I think may be the first time, Shrub is admitting the Iraq War is about oil. There are a couple of angles to explore here.
First and foremost, this notion of committing to the same end achieved through a variety of means and justifications is getting tiring. Put more succinctly, how can we be expected to "stay the course" when the course keeps changing? This desperate need for justification in the face of rapidly-changing public opinion about the war can't be good for Bush. It makes him look both desperate and deceitful.
Which brings me to my next point. It could be easily argued that Bush's speech is an attempt to bolster support for the war by using the recent Katrina tragedy in the Gulf states. Here we are, just before Labor Day when gas prices traditionally shoot up due to holiday driving. The devastation caused by Katrina is causing supply and capacity problems, which on top of the usual uncertainty in the Middle East will easily put consumer gas prices above $3 this weekend. And then here's Bush - leveraging that consumer backlash on gas prices to justify his war.
Shameful. Just shameful.
Of course, the smart conservatives will say that it's always been about oil, and we liberals were too stupid to see that from the beginning. Well heck, I would have been much more supportive of President Bush if the war were justified on the grounds of protecting our economic interests than I was when he threw out terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and securing freedom for the Iraqis as bullshit excuses. (I wouldn't have supported a pre-emptive strike, but I'd be more supportive in general...)
The stupid conservatives, on the other hand, will parrot back what Bush is saying. "You don't want the oil wells falling into the hands of terrorists, do you?" they'll say.
Well look at the situation we have here. If we pulled out today, we'd be leaving the oil wells to a bunch of loosely-organized insurgents and we'd leave the country in total chaos. If we stuck it out, however, we'd be presented with the 'opportunity' to hand those oil wells over to what appears to be headed toward a conservative Muslim theocracy that's likely to implode. As far as I'm concerned, what's the diff? Bush's argument holds no water with me.
