Staying the Course, a Bush Family Value

By Paul Brennan Tue., Nov. 28 2006 at 11:11 AM

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As you've no doubt heard, Operation Iraqi Chaos (or whatever the official name is for the U.S. invasion and occupation) has now lasted longer than America's involvement in World War II. And judging by President Bush's statement this morning, American troops won't be leaving anytime soon.

"There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," [Bush] said in a speech setting the stage for high-stakes meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. "We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren."

While it's not clear what the president means by "victory", we can be sure that whenever he speaks about "our children", he certainly isn't referring to anyone in his immediate family serving in Iraq. But that doesn't mean that his perfect-age-for-military-service daughters haven't inherited their dad's steely determination to Stay The Course! in countries where their presence is unwelcome.

Yesterday, ABC News reported:

Amid a growing barrage of front-page headlines, U.S. embassy officials "strongly suggested" President Bush's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara Bush, cut short their trip to Buenos Aires because of security issues, U.S. diplomatic and security sources tell ABC News.But the girls have stayed on, celebrating their 25th birthday over the weekend and producing even more headlines about their activities.Officials say the media coverage upstaged publicity plans for the new U.S. Ambassador Anthony Wayne, who had only recently arrived in the country.[…]

Stories of the twins' visit took on wild proportions in the Argentinean press. One tabloid headline had the young women running nude in the hallway of their hotel, a report the hotel staff denied to ABC News.

According to sources, the U.S. embassy encouraged the two girls to cut their stay short because the added attention was making their security very difficult.

But to the dismay and anger of some U.S. embassy and security staff, the girls stayed on.

Of course, sometimes you have to Adapt to Win (another trademarked Bush administration slogan)-- and today's news shows that once again, the hard-partyin' acorns don't fall far from the tree (a tree that had many "youthful indiscretions" until its forties). This morning's Washington Post reveals that the administration is considering taking sides in the civil war it denies is occurring in Iraq, while ABC News reports that Bush twin have also embraced a new strategy. Barbara has now strategically redeployed herself (i.e. pulled out of Buenos Aires). Sturdier twin Jenna, however, remains in hostile territory ("plans to stay for at least another 10 days") to proudly fly the Bush Party Flag.

I suspect most of the twenty-five year olds in Iraq would be willing to trade places with Jenna. No sign, though, that either Bush twin is about to join up to serve in the fight their father assures us is well worth the lives of other people's children.

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