The NY Times reports July was the bloodiest yet for Iraqi civilians, with the body count at 3,438. That is a 9% increase over the previous month. And in another story the NYT reports Bush expressed frustration Monday "that the new Iraqi government - and the Iraqi people - had not shown greater public support for the American mission...". If one has any heart at all, President Bush's self made Catch-22, called the Iraq occupation, must elicit a large dose of empathy if not sympathy.
Droves of politicians from the Right and Left are distancing themselves, as best they can, from having had anything to do with the decision to invade Iraq as election day approaches. Conservative politicians are doing a real Texas 3 step away from the President in hopes of salvaging their political careers. When I take a moment to consider how I would feel if I were in President Bush's shoes this week, it makes me immensely sad. Simultaneously however, the thought comes to mind PDQ that I would never, in his shoes, have made that decision to invade Iraq. War is one of the gravest decisions any people can ever commit themselves to.
