Isn’t it obvious by now that President George W.
Bush is totally lost in Iraq, without a clue of how to get out?
Instead of a coherent Iraq policy, Bush relies on
political one-liners. His most infamous was “mission
accomplished,” but, for me, the most disgusting was his response two
years ago when he was asked about the Iraqi insurgents who were beginning
to attack our occupation forces. “Bring ’em on,” Bush
said. That’s the kind of macho-posturing, false bravado you might
expect from someone safely inside a frat house or barroom, but it’s
completely irresponsible for a commander in chief to incite enemies to
attack our soldiers.
When Bush issued his taunt, about 200 of our soldiers
had been killed. Two years later, more than 1,750 are dead . . . and many
more are going to die, because Bush is lost. He has no strategy except to
plead with the public to stay the course in Iraq.
Why should we? Bush recently insisted that the
sacrifice of our sons, daughters, spouses, and other loved ones “is
worth it.” But it’s obviously not worth the sacrifice of any of
his daughters, nieces, nephews, or other relatives — not a single one
is there. This is the rich man’s war, but the rich and privileged
have made it clear that it’s not their fight. Indeed, while the
middle-class and the poor are stuck fighting and dying there, the corporate
elites are here at home, battling door to door in Washington to grab still
more tax cuts and subsidies for themselves.
Not surprisingly, military recruiters have had a hard
time reaching their quotas. If they’re looking for someone willing to
die in Bush’s war, perhaps they should try knocking on the door at
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2005.
