Is America safer?

Live Blogging a Bush press conference

In a press conference Bush is saying

I think America is safer without Saddam Hussein in power

He's insane.

The problem isn't whether Saddam is in power or not, the problem is that without Saddam there is no one running the show in Iraq and it leaves open opportunties for Al Quada and other nutcases to recruit. Opportunities they did not have with Saddam in power. That does not make us safer. Nothing that has replaced Saddam has made us safer.

Now Bush says

We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government, a sovereign nation.

Snicker, snicker. Yep, we were invited. Yep, they're sovereign.

It's better to fight them there than here

If we weren't there they wouldn't have as many people for us to fight. There would be fewer of them. If we weren't there then there would be nobody to fight.

He keeps quoting Gen David Petraeus as if he's actually a meaningful, independent voice. He's not. He's just a voice box for Bush, he's going to say whatever Bush wants him to say because like most Generals his career comes first. Bush picks the General that runs things in Iraq, and like the criteria he uses to pick an Attorney General, he picks the General he can depend on to be loyal and to give the advice that supports the path Bush wants to take.

Now he's saying Al Queda doesn't have a base of operations in Iraq, they are attempting to establish one in Iraq.

??? Which is it? We are fighting them in Iraq? Or they want to move into Iraq so they can fight us there? If they don't have a base of operations in Iraq then who is it that's blowing stuff up? Why aren't we fighting the ones who are blowing stuff up?

Now he's talking about the immigration stuff. It bores me. I think I'll take a nap.