Bush's grand strategy: There's a sucker born every minute

and they're in high evidence in congress, the media and the american people (american people = US, you and me, the voters, the citizens, the great unwashed)...

Principal Tactic for Strategy Execution:
Bait and Switch

The Pentagon announced yesterday that 35,000 soldiers in 10 Army combat brigades will begin deploying to Iraq in August as replacements, making it possible to sustain the increase of U.S. troops there until at least the end of this year.

U.S. commanders in Iraq are increasingly convinced that heightened troop levels, announced by President Bush in January, will need to last into the spring of 2008.

just a few short months ago it was only 20,000...

Senators who met with Bush said the president made it clear that he is planning to add as many as 20,000 U.S. troops to help quell violence in Baghdad.

just a few short months ago, it was only temporary...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday he doesn't know how long an increase in troop levels in Iraq will last.

"It's viewed as a temporary surge, but I think no one has a really clear idea of how long that might be," Gates said at a news conference.

oh, yeah, and remember this...?

The bi-partisan Iraq Study Group issued its report Wednesday, 06 December 2006, saying the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating. It called for enhanced diplomacy and the withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops in Iraq by early 2008. President Bush has said he will consider the report, as well as separate studies by other government agencies before making a decision.

and this...?

Bush Initiates Iraq Policy Review Separate From Baker Group's

"The president has asked all his national security agencies to assess the situation in Iraq, review the options and recommend the best way forward. The ISG report will be duly considered, and we look forward to their recommendations, as the president has always said," a White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the new initiative has not been announced. "The president indicated Monday that he is interested in hearing interesting ideas both within his administration and from the Baker-Hamilton commission."

The White House review could give the administration alternatives so that it feels less pressure to fully implement the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group report, foreign policy experts said.

and this...?

The Defense Department and the Army are disputing a new congressional report that says the 21,500 additional combat troops being sent to Iraq by the Bush administration could result in up to 50,000 troops actually being deployed to the region when all support forces are taken into account.

Defense and service officials say only a fraction of that number would be needed.

Question: How Stupid Are We?

Answer: Very.

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