In some circles insanity is defined as “doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.” That could well describe President Bush’s Iraq policy. “Iraq policy” seems in fact to be an oxymoron. There seems to have never been a real policy in Iraq. The reason we went to war has changed nearly every day since we invaded the country. We were told in the run-up to the war that we were invading Iraq to keep the United States safe from an attack similar to September 11, 2001. The spectre of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion was repeated time and again by both the president and his apologist. However, from day one of the invasion when it became apparent that there were no weapons of mass destruction the mission changed to bringing democracy to Iraq. We literally toppled Saddam Hussein’s statue in downtown Baghdad and just day’s later our fearless leader, in a great photo-op declared “Mission Accomplished.” As you all know it’s been anything but mission accomplished ever since. George Bush will go down in history as the most incompetent leader in the history of the United States and I think it is likely that he and many of his administration will be indicted for war crimes. They may never be prosecuted but I believe that they will be indicted nonetheless.
The enthusiasm of ordinary Americans for this war has diminished over time and now approximately 75 percent of the citizens of our country are upset with the prosecution of the war and want our troops brought home. The President doesn’t seem to realize that he gets his power from the consent of the governed and is indicating his desire to actually expand the war by adding more troops to the mess that is already there. Morale in our military is decling precipitously and an increasing number of GI’s are suffering from stress related disease not to mention the nearly 3,000 killled and over 20,000 wounded in this debacle. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have recommended against expanding the conflict but Mr. Bush seems to be operating in his own parallel universe. He seem oblivious to reality and determined to resurrect his popularity and place in history without regard to the cost of human suffering whether American or Iraqi. Quakers’ Colonel has really thoughtful post on this topic and I’m happy to recommend it to you. Click here to read it.
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