Sadly, it could be: d) all of the above.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Andromeda, it could be you are right and it is all of the above but I also think one is missing OIL.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

i believe bush/cheney knows what they are doing here(more troops to hell)enthic cleaning and war with iran...the writing is on the wall...they hide their evilness under many faces...but..they do know what they are doing...these are dangerous,evil criminals running our country, not dummies, so many humans have died,dum no longer exceptable!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I am wondering to what degree the contracts with private companies that remain in place are a significant factor in Bush's decisions. While I do not know the extent of these ongoing contracts, I assume that they are very substantial and that a great deal of money is still on the table as long as the private companies have the protection of the United States military.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

What's in his head? Why, whatever Cheney wants to put there. In the case of Iran/Iraq, of course, it is undoubtedly those oil leases we haven't quite nailed down.

Why else lie and deceive about an unnecessary, illegal war?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

George is stalling for time. The Iraqi parliament is not present to vote on the sweetheart oil deal the neocons have drawn up. The parliament must vote on the 70% deal with Exxon ,Shell and BP or it is not a done deal.The parliament is out of the country,waiting for security. This was the whole purpose of this war. A grab for the oil infastruction. It was taking too long to out wait Suddam ,so they decided to go full frontal with the war. Now the Iraqi's are playing the waiting game. One thing Dick and George do not understand is that Iraq does not have to do, is sign away their oil infrastructure. Russia and China will be more than happy to help Iraq deliver it's oil to market with out all the paperwork. It is rich sweet crude oil just waiting for a pipeline.They have been had and are too stupid to realize it. Iraq will never give it's treasure away. In the mean time the civil war is getting rid of the opposition.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

F. That his stubbornness, growing out of substantial ignorance and insecurity, is the mark of someone who must doggedly hold on to a decision, because possibly being wrong undermines what little is left of his miniscule self-confidence. I've seen this behavior in thoughless fanatics before: "I've made my decision, so don't confuse me with the facts."

In short, President Bush is like the Wizard of Oz: all bluster and intimidation on the surface, but a scared little man underneath.

And with the real president, Dick Cheney, standing behind the curtain as "The Wicked Witch of the West."

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

...they--Bush and the many, many politicians and corporate meda people who have enabled him--share a physical trait: an empty black space in their brains where a conscience should be. It's normally explained as sociopathy. I'm tending toward the theory of non-human aliens having invaded earth and taken over government.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

except I'm assuming Mr. Reich has a gotcha or two. It's like "Price is Right: Death of Millions Edition".

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Time to rewrite David Halberstam's "The Best and the Brightest" (1972).

In short, Dick Cheney's "piss kids" (Perle, Wolfowitz, Libby, AEI and PNAC) insisted on "idiotic policies that defied common sense." (see Wikipedia entry)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I'm betting on B and a little of A too.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

a blank place where their hearts should be, a blank space where their consciences should be, and a blank space where their brains should be. Sounds like a pretty empty group of a-holes. No wonder we are in trouble. But then at least 50% of the American public share these vacuums. They are called "red states".

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Science is yet to determine what is in the head of a Sociopath.
Zero multiplied by zero = ??

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I think Bush has made his "Surge" so indefensible because he knows the Dem Congress will cut off funding, thus making it impossible to carry out. Then he can blame the failure in Iraq on the Democrats. It's a face-saving device.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

We read and hear more and more these days about the President's conviction that God speaks to him. One wonders what, exactly, the nature of this intercourse might be.

If the President hears voices and/or enjoys divine apparitions--as did, say, Jeanne d'Arc--it would go a long way to explain his refusal to budge on Iraq in the face of overwhelming domestic and international disapproval. Could, would any one of us, I wonder, ever be persuaded to contradict divine directives received as overwhelming sensory experiences? While, I suppose, one cannot dismiss the possibility that God communicates in sight and sound with our leader, an alternative can not easily be dismissed, that is, Mr. Bush suffers some untoward psychological disorder (schizophrenia comes to mind).

In that case Heaven help us all.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

D is the more correct answer. A cavaet [sic]: There is also a possibility that W & Sure Shot's space which a brain might occupy is empty & the area is sealed since the cognognicenti feel they hold a total vaccuum.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Bush and Cheney will not be able to collect their retirement millions, promised from the four oil firms, if we do not hold on to Iraq. This contract was confirmed when Cheney concluded our so called Energy Act, behind closed doors, with same companies.
Americans, wake up........ these boys are criminals! They could care less about us..... Look at the past six years!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

It is our collective heads that we should be concerned about. GEORGE W. BUSH IS A TRAITOR, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. And the U.S. is nuts not to indict and imprison this lunatic NOW !

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

"COUNTER TERRORISM TRAINING"
These position are to protect sub-contrctors overseas.
Musthave military or police experience,be willing to commit to three ninety day tours overseas.Paid training available.
$134,722--220,000 per year.-80%tax exemption
866-567-1469
www.internationalexecutives.net
this ad came out of the thrifty nickel a free sales mag you find in the store.
at this moment there are 160,000 employment applications at either K.B.R. or halliburton as per an article in the kansas city star on 1/30/07.though it is hard to belive any news in that rag..
so which ever viewpoint you want to follow it is still about the big biz of war,money,oil....W needs to be gone NOW...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

when we had reagan in office wasn`t there a joke that went
"where is lee harvey oswald now that we need him"
like I said that a joke like the ones in office.....

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I still think they put Bush/Cheney in office because some psychiatrists analyzed them and told the oil companies they could be manipulated, just as the oil companies are manipulating our entire country via Rovian thinking. To pull off what Rove has pullled off either requires a sociopathic mind(Roves)or one hell of a lot of manpower/thinking. Only the oil companies could marshall this amount of money to provide the amount of mannpower and thought power needed to begin such a task and keep it going for so long. I think only a very small number of people actually know about this and it seems doubtful they will ever tell due to large amounts of money and death threats.
The factors in Bush's head that they are using are his sociopathy, enormous egomania(compensation reaction for tremendous feelings of inadequacy caused by his mothers rjectrion of him and his father's lack of fathering and all the ensuiing failures) and his huge messianic complex. Cheney is a vicious angry old man who is reinforced in his thinking by his wife(equally vicious) and his daughters who have been fed the Cheney mindset all their lives and as a result think all of this is normal so they are and will teach their children the very same things leading to the next generation of peoplerepublicans who hold these values. That btw is the most cogent reason to prevent family dynasties in gov't. This is true of most republicans who tend to 'be of one mind' as aprents just keep passing their mindset on and on and on. Dems are not of one mind and that is the reason why they may appear to be 'flip floppers' but really are just divergent thinkers while repubs are convergent thinkers, generation after generation after generation. Just look at people like Mike DeWine and watch his children who will follow in his footsteps unless his wife is a divergent thinker. Next, we have to remember that what is going on now didn't just start with Nixon/Ford as I once thought. It didn't start with Barry Goldwater and the Arizona mindset, as I once thought. Historians who have tracked and analyized this situation say that it actually began under Eisenhower who did not intenionally start this. It was accidental on his part when he realized his republican party members wanted to use his presidency to push their own agenda, which he discovered and stopped. As a result historians report that the republican party has been working on what we all have seen since the Reagan years and which has reached full fruition under Bush43 because of his mental structure/problems. So Robert Reich is correct as are all responders because all the aforementioned threads/components have come into play and been used by the money people, mostly the Oil money people who wish to ensure a future supply of oil for as long as possible. I think Bush and Cheney understand what they are doing schemers, plotters and sociopaths always do. What they can't see or have comprehended are the 'unintended consequences' of all these actions, no one can do that. That would require the ability to predict the future(which they THINK they can, but actually don't realize that they cannot and this is called megalomania. Megalomania comes to a person from three ways. Tremendous 'compensation reaction' due to feelings of great inadequacy(Bush43, but not Bush41), being born into a family that teaches it's children to think that way or/and it is an unintended consequence of growing up outside of the mainstream of life as in the case of having lots of money. Sen. Kerry has lots of money but he is grounded in reality so he is connected to reality and posseses enough HUMILITY to know that he does NOT know everything, can make mistakes and requires the help of others to get through life, Jimmy and Rosalind Carter are the same way as was Gerald Ford but not Nixon who had serious character flaws. Eisenhower was well grounded in reality, JFK not quite as well grounded as Ike. Thats why Ike...cont'd next.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Eisenhower was well grounded in reality, JFK not quite as well grounded as Ike, but still ok becasue of his family ethic of hard work and nothing is free. Thats why Ike and Mamie were so well loved by most americans no matter what their political party, while JFK was loved because he was so charismatic and so inspirational to most americans. My family, all catholics and all democrats loved Ike, a republican. Now a few members of my family are dedicated, blind, knee jerk repubs; one because she is unthinkingly catholic and the other is unthinkingly business oriented. At this time most catholics are republican who completely buy into the repub mindset and live in republican fantasyland because Pope John Paul II told them to when he aligned himself and the catholic voters with the republican party, either before Reagan but certainly just after he got elected. This gives the repubs a huge number of guaranteed votes along with a huge number of guaranteed votes from the white southern baptists all of which causes and allows the repubs to believe and think they can do anything they want and committ any atrocity no matter how corrupt or damaging to america or the world. These mega-religions have sold themselves to the republican party by exchanging their votes and their religion for political power DESPITE the fact that they Jesus clearly admonished all against the merging of church and state as does our beloved Constitution. Yet these religious people are totally convinced they KNOW THE MIND OF GOD that they will do whatever they want as they are ABSOLUTELY correct and will do anything even that which Jesus said was forbidden, and which they conveniantly ignore and just explain/rationalize away. More religious republican fantasyland thinking.
For you religious readers, the religious repubs are committing the sin of PRIDE, which is placing oneself as equal to or above God. They commit sacrilege, heresy and blasphemy but rationalization salves their conscience. Since they are convinced they KNOW THE MIND OF GOD they are equally convinced they can do no wrong. The 'cure' for the sin of PRIDE is the virtue of HUMILITY but those who are absolutists need no HUMILITY because they are correct always and in all things no matter what atrocities they allow to happen in their name including the killing of human beings for oil profits, greed and political power. Political power and religion are anathema to each other and corrosive to both when merged. Egregious political power in fact any political power is power over another and must be used carefully and sparingly. The very act inherent in the use of political power is the act of placing oneself above the life and value of another despite the fact that we, INCLUDING MUSLIMS, are all EQUALLY God's children. That is why war is so wrong and diplomacy is so right. War never, diplomacy only; unless directly attacked and "THEY" did not attack america. ONLY OSAMA bin LADEN did, he was the primary attacker while his supporters in the Saudi Family were the secondary attackers. So when our CIA and Special Forces had bin Laden trapped in the Afghan mountains in December of 2001 just exactly why did Bush stop the capture. The Bush Family and the Saudi Family are great friends. Now bin Laden hides in Pakistan, also great allies of George W. Bush and the repubs, I don't smell a rat, I SEE a rat.
Back to religion, the 'cure' for the cardinal sin of PRIDE is the virtue of HUMILITY. Confucius, Hilel,Christ and the Prophet all spoke clearly about this. Christians call it The Sermon ON The Mount. I think it was Hilel who said it thusly, do not do to others that which you would not want done to yourself. I hope thats correct.

Make Peace Happen

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]