Left I on the News

Alicia Silverstone may have originated the role, but George Bush has perfected it:

The president expressed frustration that Iraqis had not come to appreciate the sacrifices the United States had made in Iraq, and was puzzled as to how a recent anti-American rally in support of Hezbollah in Baghdad could draw such a large crowd.

The second half of that sentence speaks for itself, and is the origin of the title of this post.

As to the first half, has George Bush ever expressed any particular "appreciation" for the quite literal (Biblical) "sacrifices" made by the 100,000+ Iraqis who have lost their lives "thanks to" the U.S.? Not very often, if at all. For example, in a major speech two days ago, he talked about the nearly 3,000 Americans killed on 9/11, he talked about the hundreds of Americans (he omits the modifier "soldiers") killed in Beirut by Hizbollah, but this is the only mention he made in the entire speech of any Iraqis or Lebanese who have died: "Hezbollah terrorists used Lebanese civilians as human shields, sacrificing the innocent in an effort to protect themselves from Israeli response." Instead, he made the preposterous claim that "Some say that America caused the current instability in the Middle East by pursuing a forward strategy of freedom, yet history shows otherwise" (as an aside, don't you love the euphemism "instability" as a substitute for "wholesale death and destruction"?). Bush's view of Iraqis and Afghans consists of asserting their bravery in participating in elections, using the straw claim that they had "faced down the terrorists to cast their ballots" (straw because there was never the slightest evidence that the Iraqi resistance had targeted the elections, despite routine claims to that effect by the U.S. government). Not a single Iraqi or Afghan has died, to listen to him. Perhaps instead of President Clueless I should call him President Careless. Or, as I have before, President Care-Less.

Incidentally, if any Iraqis or Lebanese or Afghans are reading this, you shouldn't feel bad. Bush didn't mention, or even allude to, the 2600+ American soldiers who have died in Iraq, or the 230 allied soldiers, or the 435 U.S. and allied soldiers who have died in Afghanistan. When it comes to care-less-ness, he's strictly an equal opportunity kind of guy.