Two Days of Tragedy in Iraq

The news out of Iraq for just two days of “Bush War.”

On Friday (12/24/06) suspected Sunni insurgents killed 215 people in the Shiite slum with mortars and five car bombs in the deadliest single attack of the war. Iraq's sectarian violence shifted to Diyala province north of Baghdad, where gunmen broke into two Shiite homes and killed 21 men in front of their relatives, police said. U.S. and Iraqi forces also killed 58 insurgents during fighting in the same region. In central Iraq, a suicide car bomber attacked a checkpoint near Fallujah, killing three Iraqi civilians and a U.S. service member, and wounding nine civilians and an American service member. The dead included two Iraqi children and an adult. A U.S. Marine also died from wounds sustained while fighting in Anbar province on Friday, the military said, raising to at least 2,874 the number of U.S. servicemen who have died since the war began in 2003. So far, 54 American service members have died this month in Iraq. In Baghdad Iraqi soldiers at a nearby army post failed to intervene in an assault by suspected members of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia or subsequent attacks that killed as many as 25 Sunnis.

And we keep hearing from the administration about the “good things” that are going on over there, which they claim the media does not report. I don’t know about you, but I truly resent Bush, Cheney, Rove, and Rice thinking that we are so stupid not to realize what is going on in “their war.” It is obvious that this is a “civil war” and we don’t belong there. Nothing will change in one month, one year, or five years. So let’s get the hell out now and save the lives of untold Americans, and save the cost of almost 100 billion dollars a year. Instead of saving face and not admitting a costly mistake, let’s save the lives of our fellow countrymen and women.

Bush in Vietnam

Dear editor:

So President Bush thinks it is wonderful the way Vietnam has become a pillar of rebuilding, economic growth, and a forward thinking government. In case Mr. Bush didn’t notice, all of this has been accomplished over the past 30 years after the United States armed forces declared victory and left their country.

Did he ever stop to think that maybe we should give Iraq the same opportunity, declare victory, and get the hell out? If we did, there’s a 50-50 chance that another U.S. president thirty years from now could go to Baghdad and make the same observations about Iraq.

Study, Study, Study

Dear editor:

The Associated Press has reported that at least 715 Iraqis have been killed in the past eight days. That has already taken November’s deaths, with ten days to go in the month, to a total of 1,320, which is higher than the 1,216 who died in all of October. The killings are sometimes as brutal as they were under Saddam Hussein’s rule.

To hopefully counter this increasing carnage, which is slowly but surely sinking into a brutal civil war, our government is once again conducting studies to find new ways to change the course of our involvement in Iraq. Not one, not two, but three separate study groups are working on this problem; the congressionally chartered bipartisan Iraq Study Group, the White House’s internal study group, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s military study. Each is operating independently and will issue their own findings. After more than three long years, the death of almost 2,900 American troops, and over 20,000 wounded, three separate groups are looking for a solution to America’s blunder of pre-emptively invading and occupying Iraq.

Doesn’t all this “studying,” after more than three years, make one wonder whether our government knows what in the world it is doing?

On top of all this, along comes Henry Kissinger, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday, stating that “If you mean by ‘military victory’ an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don’t believe that is possible.”

So what are we doing in Iraq? Does anyone know? Evidently the White House truly didn’t know three years ago and still doesn’t now, or else why all these studies? Will someone please tell the American public and the rest of the world what we are trying to do there and what the real chances are of accomplishing that goal?

Bush Doesn't Get It

President Bush met with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, one of America’s strongest allies in Iraq. In an effort to reassure the Prime Minister of our intentions for Iraq, Mr. Bush offered his own interpretation of the U.S. elections that overturned Republican control of Congress and the clear message of the electorate’s disapproval of the war and the direction it has taken. After all, the president’s approval rating, mostly thanks to the Iraqi war, is now at an all time low of 31%.

He stated that, “The elections mean the American people want to know if we have a plan for success. I assured John (Howard) that repositioning of troops—if that’s what we choose to do—will be done with close consultation with him and his government. But I also assured him that we’re not leaving until this job is done—until Iraq can govern, sustain and defend itself.”

"Govern, sustain and defend itself?"

Evidently Mr. Bush learned absolutely nothing from the November 7th elections, and although he claims differently now, he is still “staying the course.” He just doesn’t get it. Is this his new governing by consensus and his offer of working with the new Congress in an atmosphere of bipartisanship?

Evangelicals vs. Gay Rights

Dear editor:

Before and during the recent national elections, that saw the Democratic Party take control of both houses of Congress, the Evangelical Movement pushed their membership to vote so that they could cast a ballot against any so-called gay rights bills, specifically “Same Sex Marriage” referendums. To these right wing, extremist religious leaders these ballot initiatives were the keystone item on the ballots of many states and outweighed the importance of the war in Iraq, the scandals in Washington, the loss of American freedoms to the secret actions of our government, and the death of over 2,800 and wounding of tens of thousand of our service people. The Evangelical leadership felt all of these problems paled in comparison to stopping the rise and danger of gay rights.

Here’s hoping, for the sake of our country and its defense, that these same fanatics never have to face the return of a draft to fill our needs of the armed forces. After all, if gays are not allowed to be in the service of our country (except for “don’t ask, don’t tell,”) all anyone has to say to get out of the obligation to serve is, “I’m gay,” and they are exempt. Whether it’s true or not, they’re out……legally. Sure beats running to Canada to avoid the draft.

Where To From Here?

The election is over. The American public has spoken.

But, this is not a time to gloat or to cry over spilt milk. It isn’t a time to “get even” or to go out of our way to prove a point. It also isn’t a time to give excuses and blame the other guy for your losses. It’s a time to “change our course” and do what is best for America and for the future of our country.

Mr. Bush in the past has spoken about bipartisan working arrangements with the Democratic Party, but recent history has proven that wasn’t what truly happened. Now that his close tie with the one party government has been broken, he is once again talking about bi-partisanship. Let’s hope he means it this time. We need it.

At this same time the Democratic Party has to go out of its way to cooperate with the executive branch in order to have a smooth transition in government that is best for the future. Some things they fought against will have to remain in place, and some laws will have to, and must, change. They must use good judgment and desire to do what is best, for that is the promise that has brought them to this opportunity given by the electorate.

Of course some of the bills passed by the majority during the past six years will have to be revisited, but not all. Of course oversight, reasonable oversight, will have to once again be used by the congress, but not to the detriment of our country. And, of course, solutions for the Iraq War, the control of our government by lobbyists, our overwhelming national debt, our loss of respect in the world, our illegal immigration problem, our loss of civil liberties, and the ridiculous election funding laws, must be found.

It is up to the Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to come together and do what needs to be done. I know that it is like swimming against the current, but it has to happen. If it doesn’t, some day people will read the book The Rise and Fall of the American Experiment. We cannot and must not let that happen.

Pot Calls Kettle Black

President Bush is busy bashing Senator Kerry for his poorly chosen statement about education and serving in the military, for which he has since apologized. “Anybody who is in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words,” Mr. Bush said, “and our troops deserve the full support of people in government.” This from a man who can’t put a whole sentence together. Old foot in the mouth does it again.

Of course this statement was made during a radio interview of “W” on the Rush Limbaugh Show. Two geniuses.