Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
But both you and the blogger don't seem to adequately pick up CSIS's concern that things are deteriorating.
|
I think we do. We just look at that concern, pay a bit more attention to context, and realize that the concern is somewhat - not totally, but somewhat - overblown.
Remember that part of the context involves cries of quagmire, deterioration, popular uprising, swinging opinion, lack of resolve, and poor execution from day one. I don't remember a week when the sky wasn't falling, in some people's minds. This is a significant blip. I think we make it over this blip fairly quickly. Problem is, you only have forty-some days to make it an insurmountable one. If there was no election coming up, I think we would be hearing far less doomsday talk. Bush made it clear long ago that this will be a long undertaking, requiring significant resolve and expense and work. Kerry has to make it into chaos right now, and so he claims that Bush has failed to fix things on a timetable that Bush explicitly disavowed long ago.
