President Bush: “We’re not winning, we’re not losing”

President Bush: “We’re not winning, we’re not losing”

by John Little on 20/12/2006

I actually find that statement to be pretty accurate. The current situation may seem intolerable to some but we’re nowhere near losing. We also haven’t acted with the military and political firmness needed to ensure victory.

President Bush acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq and said he plans to expand the overall size of the “stressed” U.S. armed forces to meet the challenges of a long-term global struggle against terrorists.

As he searches for a new strategy for Iraq, Bush has now adopted the formula advanced by his top military adviser to describe the situation. “We’re not winning, we’re not losing,” Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post. The assessment was a striking reversal for a president who, days before the November elections, declared, “Absolutely, we’re winning.”

In another turnaround, Bush said he has ordered Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to develop a plan to increase the troop strength of the Army and Marine Corps, heeding warnings from the Pentagon and Capitol Hill that multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan are stretching the armed forces toward the breaking point.

This decision is five years overdue. I’ve never understood the reluctance to do this as we embark on “The Long War“. The full transcript of the Washington Post’s interview with the President can be found here.

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There are 19 comments in this article:

20/12/2006Punditguy says:

The problem is, if we had said something like this at any time over the last five years, we’d be accused of wanting to hug a terrorist.
20/12/2006jay k. says:

so does that mean the situation has changed since election day, when we were absolutely winning? probably not. so does that mean we now have a reality based president? probably not.
20/12/2006Tim says:

Bush will say anything.
20/12/2006Wake up America> says:

Bush to Increase Military Numbers…

Our military doesn’t just deserve our “funding” them, but they deserve our respect, our thanks and our moral support. They are not asking YOU to pick up a gun and fight, they are willing to do it for you…… is it so much to ask that we support th…
20/12/2006liberalpercy says:

We’re not losing?
Attacks are up. Oil, water and electricity production are below pre-war levels. American and Iraqi deaths are up. Accountability for $Billions in our tax dollars doesn’t exist. Almost all our “coallition of the willing” partners are gone. We have no battle ready troops to add to the fight because Bush/Cheney/Rummy/Congress were too cheap and stupid to keep our forces properly supplied.
But we’re not losing.
All of us “cut and run” traitors predicted this quagmire would happen before Bush ever went looking for his imaginary WMDs. But did anyone listen to us? No!
But we’re not losing.
I’m sure every American who has lost a spouse, parent, child, sibling or friend to this incredibly stupid monument to George W Bush’s ego is pleased to hear that.
Now Bush wants to “surge” more targets into Iraq so he doesn’t have to face his own incompetence.
That way he can “not win” and “not lose” with even more $Billions, more wounded and more dead.

Worst President, Ever! George Dumbya Bush!
20/12/2006ME says:

“I actually find that statement to be pretty accurate.”

Really? How exactly are we not losing in Iraq?

Aside from capturing Sadddam, we’ve failed to achieve any of our post-invasion goals (Iraqi army a mess, infrastructure a mess, security a mess, costs out of control).

Clearly we’re not winning, not matter what the definition of that is.

But what definition of losing are you using that would allow you to believe that we aren’t?
20/12/2006MattM says:

Wait, “We’re not winning…” Does this make Bush a Defeatican? Maybe we should talk about how he’s giving comfort to the terrorists. Or how he’s not supportin’ ‘merica.
20/12/2006fiskhus jim says:

Okay, so he finally admitted we’re not winning.

Now, who’s not losing: Well Dick Cheney and Halliburton aren’t losing – even though they had to sell KBR to avoid criminal prosecution.\

Rummy’s not losing – ewven though he lost his office – because he still makes a boatload of cash every time a poor Iraqi baby is shot in the head.

And the Bush Crime Familky is not losing because the Carlyle Group, Dresser Industries, Ignite! and all their other criminal enterprises are profiting “royally” from this illegal imperial war for profit.

The rest of us? We’re losing!
20/12/2006Carl Gordon says:

You liberals have got it so wrong. The president is right, that’s why he’s the president. And he has surrounded himself with intelligunt people who, with their vast years of experience in the military and high office, he relies on for the most accurate assessment of the reality of Commie/Facist/Islamo plans to take over the world and take away our guns, just like you chickens want. That’s why he’s the decider, a do-gooder, and the MSM which is owned by liberal cut-and-runners like GE, Times/Warner, and Rupurt Mirdock are all in bed with the do-badders. He has a secret plan for total victory, so shut up, or else it won’t be a secret and the traitors win! Do you want to lose? All this talk about saving lives and money and you never thought about what’s good for America – Do you want to lose! I say we back him in whatever he wants to do because it’s good for America. Pinheads for Bush say: Re-elect Bush in 2008!
20/12/2006Mazement says:

#6, be fair. It’s pretty obvious that we’re heading for a Vietnam-style tie. We won’t be able to exert any control over Iraq…either directly through military occupation, or indirectly through diplomacy with a US-friendly Iraqi government. But Iraq is in the same boat; they can’t launch a successful invasion of the US, nor can they influence us to adopt Iraq-friendly policies.

So it’s stalemate for now. In 30-40 years, it’s quite likely that Iraq and the US will both have stable governments, that the bad memories will have faded, and then we’ll be able to go the diplomatic route. (Like we’re doing today with Vietnam.)

The only thing I don’t understand is why the White House is saying that we’ll “lose” unless we meet an impossible set of goals. I wish I knew what was motivating them. It’s just as easy to set realisitic goals, so it almost seems like they want the US to be humiliated by a self-proclaimed “loss”.
20/12/2006The Staton Jones Report says:

Yow! The PILLSBURY DOUGHBOY is CRYING for an END to BURT REYNOLDS movies!!…

The remaining war cheerleaders don’t seem to understand: it is possible for America to lose a war. Let’s not prove that, OK? Time to get out of Iraq….
20/12/2006Rusty Austin says:

This is like the greatest thing ever, watching the right wing melt down over Iraq. Face it, bush gambled the republican party, and lost. It won’t be long before a cadre of republicans troops down Pennsylvania Avenue to deliver the bad news to President Cheney er I mean Bush: resign, or be impeached and removed. I hope you right wing chumps like the words President Pelosi, the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.
21/12/2006Randy says:

Well, actually, I think it’s a matter of the rampant use of incorrect terminology. We won the war hands down. That took about 2 weeks. What we’re dealing with now is an occupation in the face of insurgency. You can’t really win or lose an occupation. They either go well or not and eventually end when the the occupier decides it’s too costly to stay.

Best to declare victory and leave.
21/12/2006John Ryan says:

The End Times are near ! All who are not taken away by the rapture will be left behind.
21/12/2006gil says:

The Right Wing and the Neo-Cons have spent years “supporting” the troops, and calling every one that disagrees with them cowards, or defeatists.

So with the Militry at a braking point, I for one wander how much of this kind of “Support” can the Army afford before collapsing.

As for the “cowards and defeatists”; They were the ones that from day one wanted better equipment for our Army, accountability from it’s civilian commanders, profesional real and pragmatic policies that produced results, not talked about future results…… OH MY GOD, that was really cowardly of us to have demanded that from all you imbeciles in the Right!!!

Let’s see where your “talking points” will take you now.

I like the new one ; “We are not winning and we are not loosing”… But you need to improve on it by saying something like ” We are not winning and we are not loosing, but all to the contrary” That might stop the Civil War for about 15 minutes while the Shiite and Sunni scratch their heads trying to figure out if the Americans have gone nuts.

Live it to the Right Wingers. They tried to win a war by using half the necessary force, and filling up the difference with harsh lenguage.

And they get angry if we call them names!!
21/12/2006gil says:

Answer to me.

Since you did not get an answer to your question of ;

“What definition of losing are you using that will allow you to believe that we aren’t”

Their definition of not losing is simply “we are not losing because we are still there”

No one would ever lose if when you are going to, you simply say ” I am not quiting” ….. Hey!!! That’s an idea for NFL Coaches!! If any of them (50% every week) is losing the game…He can simply say I ain’t living the game, and the game will not end until I say so; And when will that be Mr. Coach? Glad you asked you ignorant Liberal!!!
The game will end when I win, and if I can’t win, then the game will end when I say I won.

That is the new enlightened way of Right Wing and Neo-Con Philosophy. Buda would be proud. They call it “The way Of Bush and the Voice”
22/12/2006jake says:

what is the opposite of winning?

it sure isn’t “not losing”.

use of the word “win” implies a win or lose paradigm – you can’t have it both ways. it’s a duality – there isn’t a third choice. that’s why it sounds so incredibly awkward coming out of bush’s mouth. even he recognizes the inconsistency.

“victory” is his sole objective. now what’s the opposite of victory?

defeat.

someone above made reference to a “vietnam-style tie” – i’d love to hear THAT explained. vietnam was no “tie”. we failed to achieve our objective and fled precipitously, abandoning our former allies to the viet cong and nva and eventually absorbing a huge number of refugees as immigrants. you have ties in a soccer game (how boring is that?), not in a war. these are people’s lives, not pieces in a game of stratego.

we were told “cakewalk”

we were told “welcomed as liberators”

we were told “spreading democracy throughout the region”

we were told “wmds”

we were told “mission accomplished”

none of the above came true. not one.

where is the “not losing” in that?

are they not losing because we’re actually in a completely different conflict than the one the administration has been PRETENDING we were fighting?

“we’re still not losing the imaginary war”?

have you no shame sir? at long last, have you no shame?
22/12/2006carlos garcia says:

If Clinton or any other President for that matter, would have committed the stupidities that President Bush has committed in the las 6 years, he’d been impeached long time ago.

My question is: What is the deal?
23/10/2007warner says:

with out the east the west has no direction .

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