Once Again Bush Gets It Wrong. Who'd O' Thunk?

It is inconceivable to me that our Idiot-in-Chief in the White House is even THINKING about sending MORE troops into this hell-hole in Iraq where we have absolutely no chance of fixing this problem by military means. I guess he really didn't get the message on November 7th that our country is NOT behind this occupation.

But... I'm sure we have plenty more troops to throw at the problem, even though our National Guard forces are already over-extended there and barely able to secure our own homeland (good thing we didn't have another Katrina this year). So, with our all-volunteer military, having been volunteered for many more tours then they signed up for, we're going to send tens of thousands more targets.... er... troops into Baghdad, and stick them right in the heat of this civil war between the Shiites and the Sunnis.

That's just brilliant. I'm sure the level of violence won't go up, and the body counts won't go up, and in two to three months we'll win the war on terror! We'll declare victory in Iraq and our girls & boys will come home victorious!

Psssssst. Can I interest you in a bridge?


What's going on...

So let's take a look at what's going on here (by the way, if you haven't read Cenk Uygur's piece on December 18th, this would be a good time to take it in... he puts it in a wonderfully frank and candid perspective). There's a civil war going on in Iraq between the Shiites and the Sunnis, the neighboring countries are taking sides, and the U.S. is sitting smack-dab in the middle of this war getting shot up in the crossfire. Bush and his cabal thought we were simply going to force Democracy down their throats and support the democratically-elected (Shiite-dominated) government as we trained their police & military. But... that has led to Shiite militias carrying out genocide on the Sunnis (euphemism: Sectarian Violence), and the Sunnis carrying out their own form of violence (euphemism: Insurgency).

Meanwhile, George Bush has that deer-in-the-headlights look of "What the f**k do I do at this point now that I've royally f**ked this whole thing up? I know... I'll send in MORE troops to get shot up! Who cares what the American people want. That November 7th mid-term election was just a guideline... I'M THE DECIDER!!!! AND I WANT VICTORY!!!"


So, let's summarize...

• The Bush Administration hasn't gotten ANYTHING right in this entire foreign policy debacle. They were wrong at every juncture, and they continue to misjudge EVERYTHING.
• Not only has the Bush Administration been wrong, but they've been maliciously wrong. They've lied, fabricated, omitted, cajoled, and intentionally mislead the American people every step of the way. There is absolutely NO reason to trust ANYTHING they say, predict, or promise. "Temporary", my ass!
• The Bush Administration has no incentive to end this conflict.
• This perpetual war fuels the military-industrial-complex (Halliburton's profits contributes to Dick Cheney's wealth).
• This perpetual war also keeps the price of oil high, which lines the pockets of George and all of his friends. Thank you red-staters for helping to elect & re-elect an oil man as president.
• Ending the conflict would insinuate failure in George's mind, but his pride & arrogance won't settle for anything less than total victory, which is unattainable. Therefore, the only option he has to prevent "defeat" is to keep the conflict going.
• The Bush Administration needs the 'war-time' presidency and threats of terrorism in order to carry out its fascist agenda of subverting the Constitution, spying on Americans, torturing whomever they please, and keeping the American people living in fear.
• There's no reason whatsoever to believe that sending more troops into Baghdad will help this situation. Colin Powell, the Joint Chiefs, and many experts have said that this strategy will only worsen the already-volatile situation. Even if Baghdad is finally secured by our martial law, we'll be stuck there indefinitely to keep it secure.

What is the U.S. interest?

This is a question I've been asking myself for a long time. We keep hearing that we're there to protect our interests, but what ARE our interests?

Is our interest that of spreading Democracy? Nooooooo. If we were reeeeally interested in spreading Democracy, we wouldn't have ousted a democratically elected president in Iran (who was going to nationalize the oil industry) in favor of installing the Shah of Iran as a dictatorship. If we were reeeeally interested in Democracy perhaps we would've stayed in Vietnam, accepting nothing less than total victory, at the cost of a few more hundred thousand young American soldiers. If we were reeeeally interested in Democracy we'd be taking on Saudi Arabia and China, instead of jumping into bed with them.

Is our interest humanitarian? Nooooooo. If we were reeeeally concerned about people in other countries we'd be doing a lot more to quell the genocide in Darfur, Rwanda, and many, many other genocidal hot-beds around the globe. If we were reeeeally concerned about people in other countries we'd be doing a lot more about slave trading, poverty, tsunami victims, and hunger in third world countries. If we were reeeeally concerned about people in other countries we wouldn't have cut off funding for health clinics just because they involve planned parenthood. You know... those same clinics which provide invaluable treatment for Aids and Breast Cancer prevention & screening.

Our interest is oil, of course. They have oil, and we have gas-guzzling vehicles and homes to heat.


What would happen if we pulled out?

Of course this is one of those $64,000 questions. Why don't we just pull all our troops out of the region? Some say that would throw the region into chaos (or KAOS if you're a 'Get Smart' fan). Civil war would break out! Oh Noooooo!!!!

Let's face it.... The region is ALREADY in chaos, and civil war has ALREADY broken out. The American presence only makes things worse, gets a lot of our children killed, and fuels anti-American hatred.

Our best bet is to pull our troops out of this region and let the dust settle. We could be building our homeland security infrastructure while this civil war is taking its course, the centerpiece of which would be the development of alternative & renewable sources of energy so that we're not so dependent on foreign oil. And with all those troops coming home we could secure our borders and inspect all cargo entering at our ports.

With all the money we'd save by not having to fuel unnecessary wars, we could actually provide healthcare for our veterans, elderly, and children. We could actually fund 'No Child Left Behind', after school programs, and college tuition assistance. With all the money we'd save by not having to fuel unnecessary wars, we could legitimately lower taxes withOUT ballooning the national debt.

And... in the process... we might even STOP pissing off the rest of the world.