WARM SUNNY DAYS AND FALLING SNOWFLAKES.................
On May 1st mr bush took an airplane ride to the aircraft carrier Lincoln. After landing on the deck of the carrier he emerged from the cockpit of his aircraft in a pair of flight fatigues and proceeded to announce that the war with Iraq was essentially over. His message was given against a huge blue and white banner that read, "mission accomplished."
In a sense mr bush was right of course. What he failed to mention however, was that the war is over only for those who have given their last drop of blood in the 120 degree temperatures of some unknown Iraqi dessert, 10,000 miles from home. Yes, for those brave and dedicated American citizens the war truly is over. Just this week the NY Times reported that two more American soldiers were killed by Iraqi forces.
That brings to 162 the number of US soldiers who have died from enemy fire since mr bush declared the war to be "over." And brings to 301 the total of American dead since the war began on March 19. Not to mention the estimated 8,000 innocent Iraqi civilians who have lost their lives. Nor does it include the some 10,000 Iraqi citizens who have been rendered homeless as a result of the U S bombing campaign and who now are living along the banks of the Tigris River. A river so polluted from the bombing that not a single living organism can be found in its waters.
I'm tired of this war. I'm tired of the killing and the terrible disruption to people's lives, American and Iraqi. I'm tired of the barbarity of this war. But most of all I'm tired of the lies and the deception that were used by mr bush and his government as a basis for initiating this war. Where are those weapons of mass destruction? Where is the "African connection" that Iraq supposedly used to purchase nuclear material? Where are those "connections to terrorist groups" that Colin Powell and mr bush said Iraq maintained? The existence of any of those items has yet to be proven by the bush government. Yet all three of the above were used by mr bush as the spoken rationale for inflicting untold carnage and death on another country.
Yes, all three of these lies and / or deceptions became the foundation, the basis if you will, for mr bush to initiate a war against a soverign nation. A war that, to date, has cost 301 American lives.
I find myself in total agreement with the words of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. On the floor of the U S senate on March 19, the eve of the war, Senator Byrd stated,
"Today I weep for my country. Around the globe our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned."
Contrast Senator Byrd's words with the rhetoric of mr bush's "bring 'em on," his way of goading the Iraqi resistance fighters to come after the American soldiers. Apparently the Iraqi's were listening. Since mr bush spoke those words on July 2nd, an additional 97 American soldiers have lost their lives. It seems that mr bush's rhetoric might play well in the barrooms and beer halls of Crawford, Texas, but that kind of language has no place on the world stage. Nor is it the kind of language that brings dignity and respect to the office of the Presidency. Nor is it the kind of rhetoric that enhances the safety and protection of our men and women in Iraq who are trying to stay alive.
And while the number of American dead keeps rising, so do the number of casualties. Some four thousand American military casualties is the number that medical people in the field have identified. And, according to the doctors treating these casualties, they are young men who have lost arms and legs, who have severe brain damage, whose lives will forever be changed by this war. As one doctor in Germany said, "It's easier just to shove these young people onto the rolls of the veterans and the retirees where they are more easily forgotten by the general public."
Maybe mr bush needs to spend a few days at Andrews Air Force Base, not too far from his Oval Office. Andrews is the inital point of reentry for American dead and injured who are returned from various war zones outside of the country. I would like to see mr bush roll up his sleeves and spend a few days on the tarmac at Andrews, helping to unload the green bodybags containing the remains of American soldiers who died fighting the war in Iraq. Bodies that will be put into the ground at their final resting place while mr bush enjoys his periodic vacations with his family at his ranch in Texas. Bodies that will never again feel the warmth of a summer day, or walk again among the falling snowflakes of a crisp winter morning.
What about the 301 Americans who have given their lives, and the 4,000 casualties, many of whom have permanent and life-altering injuries? Who should be held responsible? Who will be held accountable for sending our young citizens to war under what many believe to be false pretenses, lies and deception. For the better part of two months now the American public has sat and watched while members of the bush government engage in a continuous barrage of finger pointing. The White House blames the CIA. The CIA blames the FBI. The FBI blames the National Security Agency. The National Security Agency blames the State Department. And on and on it goes. Now what has happened is that not only has George Tenant (CIA) taken responsibility, but Condi Rice has also taken responsibility, and so has Miss Rice's assistant, and even the president himself has taken responsibility. Presumably, if everyone takes responsibility, then no one is responsible for the false pretenses under which this war was fought. No one is responsible for the false pretenses under which 301 Americans have died, and 4,000 have been injured. No one.
But that is an old bureaucratic slight-of-hand is it not? If all of the government leaders claim responsibility, then how can any subsequent investigation make any one individual responsible. But that's our government in action---slick, misleading, deceptive, evasive.
And worst of all, no one is held accountable..... for anything.
God help America. God help us all. And Soon.
czechmate: 8.10.03
8:22:06 AM 
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