Bush as the new Churchill

Ok, I am reading Eugene Robinson's column with the headline, Resolute Amid the Wreckage, when he mentions that Churchill is Bush's hero. Then I get to this paragraph:

I know he's read a book or two about his hero, so I can't help wondering: Hasn't Bush gotten to the part about how Churchill, T.E. Lawrence and Gertrude Bell created Iraq at the fateful Cairo Conference of 1921? And how the object was to get British forces out of Mesopotamia, leave the fractious locals to their own devices and wish them the best?

Now, I like Churchill and I have read him off and on since high school (History of the English Speaking People, and I am back trying to get through his history of the Second World War). But World War Two is what gave Churchill his heroic patina and all those great quotes. Mr. Robinson assumes that his Bush of Arabia (I do like that nickname) has studied all of Churchill's history in chronological order.

I assume Bush has not actually studied Churchill. He certainly chose not to emulate the young Winston in rushing into battle. There were good reasons why Churchill was a backbencher in Parliament - he had had a disastrous First World War. That Churchill planned Gallipoli.

Come to think of it, the Churchill of the First World War does bear strong resemblance to the George W. Bush of Iraq fame.

Do read Mr. Robinson's column.