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Bush Basks in Iraq-Nam War “Successes”
On Wednesday, President George “LBJ” Bush stood before a hand-picked assembly of Pentagon hotshots, under-used diplomats, and fawning hangers-on to talk about the fifth anniversary of the attack on Baghdad. He said, “The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and it is just.” No, it wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be. Indeed, it has been an ignoble, unnecessary, illegal and unmitigated disaster.
Mr. Bush’s speech borders on the delusional, and debunking it point by point would become a laundry list of his administration’s criminal negligence in all parts of Middle Eastern policy. However, he offers one paragraph of justification for violating the UN Charter and the Nuremberg standards of international behavior that can serve as a basis for a criticism of the entire half decade in which America has lost almost 4,000 troops and $500 billion (and counting):
Because we acted, Saddam Hussein no longer fills fields with the remains of innocent men, women and children [other Iraqis now do it]. Because we acted, Saddam's torture chambers and rape rooms and children's prisons have been closed for good [the Iraqi government and the foreign coalition have their own]. Because we acted, Saddam's regime is no longer invading its neighbors or attacking them with chemical weapons and ballistic missiles [Kurds from the PKK have used missiles against Turkish aircraft, though, and there were Iraqi no weapons of mass destruction after 1998 or so]. Because we acted, Saddam's regime is no longer paying the families of suicide bombers in the Holy Land [they are now so enraged they will do it for free] . Because we acted, Saddam's regime is no longer shooting at American and British aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones and defying the will of the United Nations [multiple militia’s do that]. Because we acted, the world is better and United States of America is safer [non sequitur, and where is Usama bin Laden?].
Mr. Bush and his administration have never felt secure enough either psychologically or politically to admit to mistakes. Typical of the baby-boom generation of which he is a part, nothing is ever Mr. Bush’s fault. He ought to have a sign on his desk that says, “The buck starts here.” However, complicit in this disaster is the Vichy Wing of the Democratic Party, those in Congress who voted for the “Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.”
The war and the occupation that followed have done nothing to support American interests in the region. It has brought Al Qaeda into Iraq-Nam, it has allowed Afghanistan to move back toward the Taleban, it has stretched the US armed forces to the breaking point, and it has accelerated America’s economic decline under Mr. Bush. There are 307 more days of the Bush administration, and they are insufficient to even start repairing the damage done. And that can even begin to happen until US forces (along with those of its few allies) leave Iraq-Nam.
© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.
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