George Bush's Admirable Effort In Iraq
{ Not Really... }

The inevitable happened in Iraq the other day. The insurgents put one in the
win column. This time a suicide bomber apparently walked into the middle of
a mess tent in Mosul, and as the result of his desire to spend enternity in the
company of 72 beautiful virgins in some exotic Muslim paradise, 22 US soldiers
are now dead and scores other are injured. And in case there is any doubt as to

what the word, "injured" means in this kind of circumstance, bombing injuries
usually entail serious burns, or shrapnel wounds resulting in significant
damage
to internal organs, or loss of limbs, or blindness, and perhaps, partial or
complete
loss of hearing resulting from the noise of the explosion.

There is also the likelihood of severe psychological problems for some bombing
victims. They'll have plenty of work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center { and
other military facilities } for months if not years to come, just as the
result of
just this one suicide bombing.

Our brave young men must pay this terrible cost to secure democracy and
freedom for a culture in which those attributes are decidely foreign. Our
troops
are despised and hated and looked upon as occupiers. Not as liberators.
These young men and women are plain worn out, and besides each other,
can they ever really trust any Iraqi?

What was the reason Bush gave for starting this war? "To root out the
terr'ists."
{ forget about the non-existent WMD's...} Someone remind him there weren't
any terrorists in significant numbers in Iraq before the war. Now this desert
nation is a hornet's nest of Muslim fanatics who want nothing more than to
kill Americans wherever they can find them -- and be rewarded, should they
themselves die, with all those delectable virgins.

This idea of paradise is obviously irresistible, because the insurgents have
absolutely no fear of dying, or any apparent guilt as regards the taking of the

life of anyone who stands in the way of their objectives. The so-called "rules
of engagment " have been abandoned wholesale in the name of Allah.

Wasn't there an enemy in some other war not so very long ago over in the
jungles of Southeast Asia who carried a similar outlaw mentality?

Indescriminate killing means nothing to fanatics because life means nothing
to them. It is all never-ending jihad or revolution. Didn't we learn anything
in
Vietnam? Such as letting people fight their own wars. Freedom is just a word,
and valueless if someone else dies for your cause. -- If the Iraqis want to be
a free people let them put their own lives on the line.

This war is wrong. And was always wrong. And finally the polls are beginning
to reveal that the American public on the whole realizes the truth of the
matter.
Freedom and democracy for Iraq is not worth the loss of so many American lives.

It should also be noted with horror that the sons and daughters of the rich,
and the well-educated, are not dying in Iraq. It is the poor who toil in
America's
voluntary military. Thus, the most vulnerable of our citizens pay the hightest
toll.

Would not it be wondrous if the President and our dismissive Secretary of
Defense
could admit the error of their ways and at the very least, begin making things
right for those "voluntary" American soldiers who have to worry 24/7 about
the disguised enemy who walks in their midst. But, if Colin Powell couldn't get

through to these war hawks. Who could?

And now he's had enough and won't be around through Bush's second term
to ensure that a little sanity remains at the White House.

Bush and Rumsfeld don't believe in accountabilty, least of all for themselves.
If Iraq is already falling apart now, what is going to be their response in a
couple
of months when it becomes obvious that this hopelessly fractured country
is heading down the path to civil war?

Welcome to the quagmire you've designed G.W. It is your war, on your watch.
You are responsible.

It won't be long now before the pretense is all over. At last, when all those
Iraqis who are desperate for democracy { yeah, right... } line up to vote next
month, they will need a lot more than useless rhetoric to guard them against
fanatics dreaming of paradise.

That and an American president freshly reintegrated with reality.


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READINGPOST.COM
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