Under the weather/More of the same

I'm fighting a cold now. I was in rather high spirits last week, so I didn't sleep so much, so I got tired just as I was going back to work.

I didn't see President Bush's televised address last night
(text at http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article2144495.ece) but as expected, his new course for the Iraq war is more of the same. In fact, it's telling that the image most often used to describe Bush now is that of the compulsive gambler, betting that this time his luck will change.

What's less noted is that while Bush paints a dire picture of what would happen if American troops left Iraq, all the things he describes are things that are already happening. All he can really say is that they would happen even more if American troops left. Those things will also happen even more if American troops stay (unless a "temporary" 15% increase in troop levels somehow proves decisive). And those fearing a regional conflict should American troops leave should take note of Bush's not-so-subtle threats against Iran and Syria, and remember how the Vietnam War was spread to neighbouring countries in the name of cutting off supplies to the enemy.

As for Bush's threats against the U.S. client regime in Iraq, the trouble is that if the consequences of not supporting them are as dire as he says, his threat to stop supporting them if they don't shape up rings kinda hollow, doesn't it?