The View from the Meadow

Observations of the Passing Scene

Political and Social Commentary by Dave Satre

Arrogance and Ignorance
The Bush Administration and Iraq

On the sixth anniversary of the World Trade Center bombings the United States finds itself more vulnerable to terrorism than it was in 2001. Since GW Bush foolishly pushed this country into an unjustifiable war more American soldiers have died in Iraq than in the twin towers tragedy.

Bush’s presidency has been an absolute failure. The administration’s blunders in Iraq -- and politically pretty much around the entire world -- have inflamed, not squelched, anti-American terrorism. A reported one million innocent civilians, ordinary people like you and me, have died in Iraq.

This administration is not just a mere matter of misdirected effort or lack of leadership. It is a matter of arrogance and ignorance --- people hell bent on political power, driven by personal greed and totally unconcerned with the concerns and needs of the citizens of this country. Bush forced America into War in Iraq with deliberate lies about the threats of weapons of mass destruction and false promises of a quick war that would take but a few days. We’ve been stuck there ever since, mired in a syrupy mess of GW’s lies and mistakes. And our current representatives in Congress haven’t got a clue concerning what to do about it.

What this country needs is a real leader……. What we have is Bush. Faced with total failure and a disgraceful historical legacy he is merely attempting to selfishly stave off the inevitable long enough for him to leave office gracefully – and not impeached!

He recently made a quick, clandestine visit to the remote Al-Anbar province in Iraq where his people evidently found him a place where he could actually stand on the ground in the country long enough to make an on-camera claim that the so-called “surge” is actually working in the war against terrorism.

And to, ah, sort of, ah, promise to withdraw a small number of troops from Iraq sometime in the not too distant future. Hmmm, it sounds like just about the same number that they recently sent over as part of the surge…. Wha-da-ya know.

Bush made this visit the day before Congressional hearings on the Iraq war began on September 10th and 11th, the anniversary of the twin tower attacks, and the long-awaited report from General Petraeus, the commander in charge of military operations in Iraq. You know, the one Bush has used to put off any action on the Iraqi matter all summer.

The fact that the president did not visit Baghdad, Iraq’s capitol city, is both an insult to the leaders and citizens of the country and concrete evidence that his surge policy has failed. Not only has the Iraqi government failed to organize a democracy and a safe place to live for its people, our president can’t even go there without fearing for his life!

General Petraeus and Bush claim minute improvements in the security of some areas of Iraq are a sufficient excuse to extend GW’s failed military policies. Bush’s basic rationale for the surge was to give the country time for it to straighten out its own political problems. Obviously, there has been very little progress in that direction.

Sectarian violence was the obvious result of Bush’s idiotic invasion of Iraq. Removing Saddam from control left the power up for grabs in a country that has been torn by cultural and religious factions for centuries. Instead of unifying the country, the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are “cleansing” their communities of outsiders in an effort to split the country into separate factions or even separate nations.

What is the U.S. military mission in Iraq? There is no satisfactory answer to this question. The original goal was to protect America by eliminating the threat of weapons of mass destruction. It was a lie. Bush then changed his goal in an effort to avoid taking the blame for the failure of his original mission.

Now, Bush’s major mistake is the attempt to use U.S. military power to achieve political progress in countries shredded by ethnic and religious strife. That and starting a "war on terrorism" by invading Iraq, a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. The war in Iraq has done little to combat terrorism and much to inflame the movement.

There are more troops in Iraq today than there were on Election Day 2006, when Americans voted to give Democrats control of Congress with expectations that they would end U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Under Bush’s plan substantial numbers of U.S. forces will still be in Iraq when the next president is inaugurated, although many military officers view a large-scale troop reduction as inevitable because of the stress placed on the thinning ranks of our armed forces. We cannot continue to recycle military personnel through multiple tours in Iraq. Thousands of our troops are dying, we’re nearing the 4,000 mark and almost 30,000 are wounded, many physically and mentally maimed for life.

Meanwhile, Bush done nothing to secure our own country. U.S. borders and ports remain wide open. There has been no serious effort on behalf of the federal government to thwart the invasion of illegal aliens across our southern border.

Bush has actually opened the door for Mexican trucks to cross our southern border unimpeded. These trucks will have free access to our entire country, which will ultimately aid drug traffickers, illegal aliens and potential terrorists to enter the country.

Meanwhile, Congress, which is supposed to supply the checks and balances needed to combat this out-of-control presidency, is holding meetings on the Iraq issue. Is there anything more boring on God’s green Earth than watching these Congressional hearings? They are little more than a tedious procession of boring speeches, continuous lies, and political posturing before television cameras prior to a preordained outcome that will fail to stop the war.

What this country needs is a real leader. Someone with the courage and ability to provide solutions to the problems facing America and has the needs of its citizens in mind, rather than the financial and political aspirations of his cronies.

Americans have the ultimate ability to take back this country from the Bush administration and its backers by exercising the right to vote. However, our citizens have proven themselves to be easily manipulated through political rhetoric and outright propaganda. Our media is failing to deliver the true picture of the situation in Washington and, although the polls now show the vast majority is disgusted with George Bush, most people do not really understand what is happening.

The youth of this country need to get involved, like the youth of the 1960s and 70s did to get the country out of another failed military attempt in Vietnam. The Democrats need to focus on this voting block, which is large enough to combat the unthinking conservative right wing, and eliminate all Bush cronies from power in Washington.

The situation in Iraq and the rest of the world will require sensible political solutions. Military actions will never end terrorism. It needs to be treated as a criminal activity and should be handled by the police and agencies like the FBI and CIA. And America needs to work with the rest of the world to identify and eliminate terrorist activities in order to create world peace.

As citizens, our first step is to Throw the Bums Out in the next election and return America to the principles of freedom it was based upon. Hopefully, we can select a leader who is capable of doing the job.

Dave Satre
September 2007

Give Peace a Chance!

Recommended links concerning this topic:

Surge Failing by Bush’s Own Measure
George F. Will
Mercury News 9/11/07

Six Years Later
Chuck Baldwin