As I peruse the newspapers this bright, springtime Sunday morning, it is quite apparent that President Bush, his administration, his plans for a better world, his plans for a better America are all kind of unraveling.
If his gamble on Iraq would have only paid off, everything would be different for him, the country and the world. But was his gamble a fool’s gamble? The men that convinced him that this is a “slam dunk” plan that cannot fail are all deserting him and the plan. Where is that arrogant, cocky Rumsfeld – not so cocky anymore?
To sell the plan to the nation and the world, Bush and his cohorts had to, for lack of a better term, lie. They played the ole’ “the means justify the end” card. Now that the “end” is not even in sight and things are going from bad to worse, the “means” are starting to look pretty bad.
The American people, who bought all that Bush threw at them are starting to sober up. They see that they have been duped. Duped into believing that the invasion of Iraq was necessary, that it was part of the war on terror, and that it had something to do with 9/11 – all lies.
As Iraq sinks deeper into civil war all our troops can do is sit back and watch. Hundreds of Iraqis are killed every day. No one is safe. No one is in charge. There is no law or order. Crazy Saddam just laughs and asks, are you better off now?
Afghanistan, the country where al-Qaeda and Bin-laden launched their 9/11 attack on the United States, still hides the terrorists, still allows them to operate and train new recruits for the war on America. The Taliban there is actually growing stronger, organizing to once again take over the country.
Iran is working to build an atom bomb. They need one to protect themselves against the new American Crusaders. Who can blame them?
Have we lost our way? Have we lost what made us great, what made us respected, admired, envied and feared? No, I think we have strayed a little and we need to get our house in order and get back on the American road we are all familiar with.
I think President Bush hurt this country more than anyone can imagine. He invaded a country under false pretenses; he lied to us and the world and his lies, our lies, are now exposed. This is not the American way. We defend ourselves, we defend the defenseless but we do not invade a sovereign nation as part of a grand plan to change the world order. That is something Hitler did.
In the first Gulf War we came to the defense of Kuwait which was brutally attacked by Iraq. We had every right to invade Iraq and topple the man that invaded Kuwait – but we didn’t. I know that the first President Bush regrets that, especially now that he sees what a mess his son is in.
A pre-emptive military strike option is a valid option in today’s world. Rogue countries need to fear that option. That option acts like a deterrent. Defenders of the Iraq invasion point to Libya and how we scared it into behaving. I agree that the Iraq invasion did have that affect but I am not sure it was worth losing all those American soldiers to just scare some people. It could have been done a different way.
President Bush’s actions also increased our vulnerability to harm by allowing, no helping, the terrorists of the world unite and grow stronger. Iraq now is the home of terrorism. This is where they train and get more deadly with each passing day. They now have more recruits, including suicide bombers, than they know what to do with. In the past, Iraq was al-Qaeda free. We could have isolated and destroyed al-Qaeda when they were in Afghanistan. But we did not and we will pay for that.
President Bush hurt this country as far as his overseas adventures are concerned but he also hurt this country internally. He divided us. In the end we may unite again but in opposition to him and his un-American ways.
He divided us by bringing religion into government, something our Founding Fathers warned us against and something this country has dealt with throughout its history with success; why mess with success? Does he have a grand plan to change the country into a Christian nation because his God told him to?
He divided us by taking HIS religious values and trying to make them ours. His values are on full display as his lies and deceits are revealed one after another.
He divided us by taking the law into his own hands. He justified breaking the law because of unusual circumstances, state of war, etc. but we are a republic which means a nation governed by the rule of law. I agree that desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures but the way our laws were disregarded borders on the arrogant and the dictatorial; it could have been done in a better way.
President Bush’s approval ratings are now down below 30% which means most of the country is no longer buying his spin or outright lies. But I do not blame the man. I think he was mislead or he aloud himself to be misled. He probably meant well.
President Bush’s Republican cohorts are running as fast and as far away from him as possible; deserting a sinking ship because now it is everybody for himself.
Will the nation now flock to the Democrats; maybe but not necessarily. The Democrats are not united and have no plan but some will say they at least ain’t no Republicans.
Hilary Clinton does not have a chance but McCain does and he is the uniter this country needs; he is an American first and foremost and then a Republican. I hope he is up to the task because it will be quite a task.
Janusz
No comments:
Post a Comment