Bush the peacemaker?

Bush quotes from Issues 2000...

Bush said he'd have clearly defined military missions:

George W. Bush urged America’s servicemen and women on Saturday to "stay in the military -- there’s a new commander in chief coming. The great nation called America will be the peacemaker. I will not retreat. We cannot retreat. I will be a commander in chief who respects the men and women in uniform and makes sure they are sent abroad only on clearly defined missions."

NY Times, Aug 12, 2000

Meanwhile, the NY Times reported today that American generals in Iraq:

...pulled back from recent suggestions, some by the same officers, that positive trends in Iraq could allow a major drawdown in the 138,000 American troops late this year or early in 2006. One officer suggested Wednesday that American military involvement could last "many years."

Bush said soldiers need the best support possible:

Those who man the lighthouse of freedom ask little of our nation in return. But what they ask our nation must provide: a coherent vision of America’s duties, a clear military mission in time of crisis, and, when sent in harm’s way, the best support and equipment our nation can supply. With these things, they never fail us. Without these things, we have failed them. Let us resolve never to multiply our missions while cutting our capabilities.

Memorial Day speech, Austin TX May 31, 1999

Meanwhile, soldiers may wonder why they still can't get basic armor plating for their humvees, and if granting Junior's Uncle Bucky an exclusive contract to manufacture armor plating is costing lives in Iraq.

And just when is the United States really going to be finished with this war business? The Christian Science Monitor quoted the Congressional Research Service with cost estimates through 2014:

More spending on the war is sure to come - even if the US begins to draw down troops levels. While it is difficult to estimate precisely, it is sure to be in the hundreds of billions, experts say. The Congressional Research Service pegs the cost of US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan at an additional $458 billion through 2014.