Quotes of the Morning: Casey Has Struck Out

“As the Iraqis are able to take more of the fight to the enemy, our commanders on the ground will be able to make a different assessment about the troop strength. And I'm going to continue to rely upon those commanders, such as General Casey, who is doing a fabulous job and whose judgment I trust, and that will determine -- his recommendations will determine the number of troops we have on the ground in Iraq.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, January 1, 2006

“Oh those long ago days of January of 2006. Back when we were ‘winning’ in Iraq. Back when the Iraqis were standing up. Back when General Casey was fabulous.”
-Skippy

“President Bush began 2006 assuring the country that he had a ‘strategy for victory in Iraq.’ He ended the year closeted with his war cabinet on his ranch trying to devise a new strategy, because the existing one had collapsed.”
-New York Times, January 2, 2006

“That isn’t possible! That would mean that Fearless Leader made a mistake, and we all know that that doesn’t happen. There must have been some evil influence that had been setting the strategy. Someone who managed to pull the wool over Fearless Leader’s eyes.”
-Skippy

“The original plan, championed by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top commander in Baghdad, and backed by Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, called for turning over responsibility for security to the Iraqis, shrinking the number of American bases and beginning the gradual withdrawal of American troops. But the plan collided with Iraq’s ferocious unraveling, which took most of Mr. Bush’s war council by surprise.”
-New York Times, January 2, 2006

“Hmm.. Rumsfeld is gone, so the remaining evil influence must be General Casey! How dare he not win the war that Fearless Leader wanted him to win.”
-Skippy

“Over the past 12 months, as optimism collided with reality, Mr. Bush increasingly found himself uneasy with General Casey’s strategy. And now, as the image of Saddam Hussein at the gallows recedes, Mr. Bush seems all but certain not only to reverse the strategy that General Casey championed, but also to accelerate the general’s departure from Iraq, according to senior military officials.
General Casey repeatedly argued that his plan offered the best prospect for reducing the perception that the United States remained an occupier — and it was a path he thought matched Mr. Bush’s wishes. Earlier in the year, it had.
But as Baghdad spun further out of control, some of the president’s advisers now say, Mr. Bush grew concerned that General Casey, among others, had become more fixated on withdrawal than victory.”
-New York Times, January 2, 2006

“The nerve of Casey. He was looking to reduce the number of our troops in Iraq. We can’t have that! We need more troops in order to achieve victory.”
-Skippy

“The reason why there are not fewer troops there, but are more -- you're right, it's gone from 135,000 to about 147,000, I think, or 140,000 something troops is because George Casey felt he needed them to help the Iraqis achieve their objective. And that's the way I will continue to conduct the war. I'll listen to generals.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, September 15, 2006

“Wait a second… That sounds like General Casey was behind the increase in the troops just a few months ago.. That can’t be right. Fearless Leader is implying that Casey wants to cut and run.”
-Skippy

“Absolutely, we're winning.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, October 25, 2006

“See? Back when General Casey was advising Fearless Leader, way back about two months ago, we were winning. I wonder why he is on the outs now?”
-Skippy

“By mid-September, Mr. Bush was disappointed with the results in Iraq and signed off on a complete review of Iraq strategy — a review centered in Washington, not in Baghdad. Whatever form the new strategy takes, it seems almost certain to include a ‘surge’ in forces, something that General Casey insisted earlier this year he did not need and which might even be counterproductive.”
-New York Times, January 2, 2006

“See who we've got here tonight. General Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff. General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They still support Rumsfeld. Right? You guys aren't retired yet, right? Right, they still support Rumsfeld.”
-Stephen Colbert, White House Correspondents’ Dinner, April 29, 2006