Fineman defines "pixie dust"

Howard Fineman calls his commentary on Bush's Iraq speech last night A Crisis of Confidence and pointed out that Bush himself didn't come off as confident.

But his face showed fear—and that's no way to rally a war-weary nation.

Jan. 10, 2007 - George W. Bush spoke with all the confidence of a perp in a police lineup. I first interviewed the guy in 1987 and began covering his political rise in 1993, and I have never seen him, in public or private, look less convincing, less sure of himself, less cocky. With his knitted brow and stricken features, he looked, well, scared. Not surprising since what he was doing in the White House library was announcing the escalation of an unpopular war.

Fineman then goes on to explain that a US loss in Iraq will be a disaster. I can't argue with that but of course it is a disaster that could have been avoided if Bush had not invaded the country in the first place. The fact that it will be a disaster if we a forced to leave Iraq does not mean that it's possible for us to win. In my initial post on the speech I referred to "pixie dust". Well Howard explains what the "pixie dust" is.

Does anyone in America or Iraq , or anywhere else in the world for that matter, really think that the Sunnis and Shia will make peace? Does anyone think that embedded American soldiers won't be in danger of being fragged by their own Iraqi brethren? Does anyone really think that Iran and Syria can be prevented from playing havoc in Iraq and the rest of the region by expressions of presidential will?

And what did the American people see on TV last night?

What the voters saw on TV just now was a man struggling to come to grips with his own unwillingness to face facts. It's still a struggle. His acknowledgement of mistakes was oblique and not as brave as it sounded at first blush. Mistakes were made, and he said. "The responsibility rests with me," he said. What he meant to convey was that others had made the mistakes, but that he was stepped up to take the hit. Hoo-aw! He said that he had "consulted" congressional leaders of both parties before he came to a decision on sending more than 20,000 additional troops. He didn't really consult with members of Congress, and certainly not with Democrats, unless you consider Sen. Joe Lieberman a Democrat.

Yes, George Bush's idea of consultation remains telling others your with me or against me. This was not a "new" plan - more stay the course because as a majority, 72% believe, Bush has no plan.

Joe Gandelman has a rundown on other reactions.