With the heavy toll of American lives and logistics now hounding the coalition forces almost daily, the post-Desert Storm criticisms against the elder Bush for not occupying Iraq then, gave way to plaudit for the stroke of brilliance of the father.
Conversely, Dubya Bush the son comes out now as, again, wimpish for not deeply studying and anticipating the pros and cons of invading, and occupying a vanquished Iraq. The mega blunder of unpreparedness for the fatal chaos upon liberation and occupation after Saddam Hussein's fall, resulted in the lethal gridlock worse than Vietnam.
As of now, the body bag count of American GIs has tallied the 2,200 figure, reckoned from the invasion in March, 2003. Sadly, the weekly death toll continues, and still counting.
Iraqi insurgents and a slew of Islamic terrorists have realized that US invincibility is all a myth against suicidal tactics. Counting the much greater number of Iraqi police, security forces, and civilian "collateral damage" victims, the US fatalities even pale in comparison.
Dubya's bombast, bluster, and hawkish posturing could be the direct backlash of the World Trade Center 9/11 treachery. Believing Iraq as the epicenter of terrorism to be crippled at its roots, Bush had to cut down Saddam. The latter's suspected arsenal - which turned out as unverified intelligence - of weapons of mass destruction had to be totaled; and, Iraq democratized.
Many though, attribute Iraq's "black gold" or oil deposit, which is known to be the world's biggest untapped oil wealth, as Uncle Sam's main unspoken motive at the back of Dubya's mind…
A big contributory meltdown was Pres. Bush's doing it on solo flight - except for English PM Tony Blair as a loyal wingman - without UNO's backing. A handful of allies, like Spain, Italy, Japan, etc. who got hectored into sending non-combatant contingents were just that negligible.
And so, like a golf tyro whose mulligan stroke needed a repeat shot, Uncle Sam's prexy had boldly reprised his father's Desert Storm, but with a failed variation of post-invasion occupation that has so far gobbled up his golf ball in the watery trap.
His satisfaction rating way, way below the median barometric grid, Bush is now in limbo, with negative factors coming to bear on domestic and the Iraq quagmires pushing him down.
With Iraq going haywire, it's a wonder that Americans haven't yet reached the anti-Vietnam crescendo of outrage in demanding pullout of American GIs. How long will this tolerance for Dubya's Iraq obsession to hold on, is anybody's guess. Definitely, the withdrawal clamor is getting more intense and more strident now.
The withdrawal clamor is evolving a "strong consensus" in reaction to Democratic Senator Joseph Biden's advocacy for pullout of 50T GIs by end of 2006 for starters, with a view to just leave a "small force" gradually. The Pentagon appears agreeable.
But Bush insists: "No war has ever been won on a timetable and neither will this one" and, not before long-term victory when Iraq is "peaceful, united, stable and secure, and integrated into the international community". Quite a tall order, despite Iraq's parliamentary elections.
The crucial question is: Reckoned on Dubya's 2nd term ending January 20, 2009, how long can he ride out the raging storms?