Mr. President, I have had it with you!
Posted : August 26, 2004 at 11:13 pm [America/Los_Angeles]
It was a mentally exhausting day for me, and upon returning home, I came across two different sets of news items which just left me speechless. So, if I sound unduly harsh, accept my apologies. But for once, I could care less. I have had it with this country’s politics, the majority of its spineless political leaders (who supposedly “serve” the public) and lastly but not the least, the pathetic partisan media.
2004 Iraq deaths now exceed 2003 deaths
It happened this week almost without notice: The number of Americans killed in Iraq during 2004 now exceeds the number killed in 2003.
More remarkably, the 488 killed thus far this year died in just 239 days (2.04 daily average), while the 482 killed last year died during fully 287 days (1.68 daily average), which means that not only has 2004 been bloodier than 2003 in absolute terms, but in relative terms as well.
…
Now, here’s the question I really want to ask: How long will it take the media to report this indisputable fact? I mean, can they take even five minutes time from the latest, breathless Swift Boat twist to report the fact that more Americans have died in Iraq this year than last?
It’s a funny thing, this human nature. You take away 1 or 2 human life per day and people will gradually get so immune to it that they will not even notice it, even if it continued for almost two years. Makes me wonder if the reaction of this nation and its feelings towards their President would be the same if these 970 American lives were snatched away from us by terrorists on a single day! Makes you wonder if we still would hold no one accountable (besides the perpetrators) for such a failure (in a post 9/11 world ) and would continue to let wimps on television who never volunteered to serve in any war in any capacity talk endlessly about Swift Boat Veterans and their (g)utter concoctions about John Kerry on their allegedly “fair and balanced” brain-dead shows.
Somehow, this tragedy and loss of life is not “registering” with the folks who live here. Maybe it’s because these soldiers are getting killed and maimed far far away from our peaceful life here in United States. Or, maybe, it’s because these 970 caskets were never shown on “our” television sets while we were having dinner with our familes. I don’t know and I can’t seem to figure this one out. It just does not “register” with these people that there are 970 fathers and mothers who’ll never get their sons or daughters back. Period. It does not “register” with these people that there are 7000 families right now somewhere in United States where a luved one went from being the caretaker, the bread earner to being the one who is taken care of 24×7 just like that. It does not “register” with these people that these kids did not die fighting an imminent threat for this country. They fought a war where the “goal” kept changing colors like a chameleon and based on the direction of the political winds blowing through the country.
Why aren’t people realizing that we went to fight a pre-emptive war in Iraq because of the threat of WMD, because this administration felt Saddam was an imminent threat to the borders of this nation. It was NEVER, NOT ONCE because President Bush’s administration, after reading umpteen CNN news articles about the torture of innocent Iraqis under Saddam’s regime, said - “Gosh! This is terrible. We should help the Iraqis.” That is just not true. The name “pre-emptive war” tells the story. If this war would have been about liberating Iraqis, it would have been called “Iraqi Liberation War” or something like that. We went in because our intelligence failed us. We went in because someone chose to trust a scumbag like Ahmad Chalabi rather than seek the truth the old-fashioned CIA way. We went in because, instead of heeding to the advice of the millions both here and around the world, our President chose to stubbornly “stay the course” and lead the nation to a war in the name of “War on Terrorism”, “WMD’s imminent threat”, “Saddam ignored UN inspections, so we need to fix it”, “add your favorite reason here”, “add more of your favorite reasons here”.
Citizens of this nation, indeed the whole world, rallied and marched among other things to make their voices heard. Elderly statesman from around the world warned. Heck, even the Pope said it was not the right thing to do. Yet, this intellectually challenged President stubbornly said “I respectfully disagree, but I think I know better”. And today, when all of us have been proven right, no one in this current administration have been held accountable. Not the Commander-in-Chief. Not the Secretary of State. Not the Defense Secretary. Not the Vice President. Just one “CIA” director, and that too after resisting it for months. Well, Mr. President, allow me to “respectfully” respond to your “respectful disagreement” with us:
The world, the Pope, the elders of this country and the whole world were right. You were wrong! And you must be held accountable, come Nov. 2nd, 2004
And today, 69 days before the elections, I also read this in the news:
Bush Admits Iraq “miscalculations” - NY Times
President Bush (news - web sites) acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that he had miscalculated post-war conditions in Iraq (news - web sites), the New York Times reported.…
The president also discussed the issue of North Korea (news - web sites) and Iran’s nuclear ambitions, saying that he would not be rushed to
set deadlines.
Why could you not have shown the same patience with Iraq. Is North Korea or Iran any less evil in your book or any less threatening than Iraq was in 2002? I bet it is not. So why are you so patient now? I think I know the answer. I know you’re a good man Mr. President and I also know you’re a man of faith. I am willing to wager a bet that deep down in your heart today, you know you rushed into Iraq and led us and the world into a war which could have been done differently. You know there was more that you could have done. After all, it was you (not the Congress, not Dick Cheney, not Donald Rumsfeld, and certainly not John Kerry) who gave the marching orders to US military to invade Iraq on that fateful day in 2002. Deep down in your heart Mr. President, you know you were wrong. And that’s why you need to hold yourself accountable.
Jeez..what a difference 537 votes can make in the future of the world!
- Anand
Category: United (or not) State of American Politics 2004
4 Comments
BRAVO! Very well-written and obviously deeply heartfelt. You ought to post this at the kerryblog.
I was going to comment that I agree with you 100 percent, but I had to stop myself. I’ve become less and less convinced of this President’s sincerity, and more and more doubtful of his “goodness”. The grievous harm he has inflicted and continues to inflict upon innocent Iraqi civilians, coalition forces and our own troops would seem to belie any presumption of goodness. His domestic policies benefit the wealthiest in our society while doing real harm to those less fortunate.
I could go on and on, but I lack your eloquence–and I think you get the idea. I really wonder if this President cares about anything but power.
Posted by: Bob Evans at August 27, 2004 @ 2:39 am
First, I’d like to say that one or two Americans dying in Iraq in a year is bad. One or two dying a day is absolutely horrible. The soldiers serving there should be commended and held in the highest of respect.
Second, I am sure that if you polled the Iraqi people they would take their country the way it is today, in a huge majority landslide, over the way it was before the war started. The people there were brutally beaten, raped, killed, and maimed by the very government that had the responsibility to defend and protect them. It’s a shame that it took as long as it did for somebody to step in and put an end to it. President Bush should be commended for the work he has done.
He first freed the people of Afghanistan, and now he has freed the people of Iraq.
Posted by: Erik Weibust at August 27, 2004 @ 6:09 am
Erik, my friend:
I knew I could count on you to comment on this post..;-)
As for your first point, I never doubted that you or anyone on any side of the aisle (or fence or wall) would disagree on this.
As for your second point, I think folks on the two sides of the aisle continue to have this disconnect for reasons that my puny little brain cannot comprehend. I cannot agree more that Iraqis are better off today (or atleast will be better off) than they were in Saddam’s regime. But, that ALONE WAS NOT the reason we went to war. NEVER! Why? Because,
i) this nation never agreed to launch a “pre-emptive” strike against Iraq (and risk the lives of our soldiers) solely because we needed to liberate the Iraqis. Lord knows that is not true and Lord also knows there are plenty other nations needing liberation and
ii) President Bush did not “choose” the right way to do it. A consolation prize at the end of a war surely does not justify “the cost (in human lives and financially)” that was incurred.
See, here’s the deal Erik. We will probably never see eye to eye on this one (I think) just by reading your last line:
He first freed the people of Afghanistan, and now he has freed the people of Iraq.
People of Afghanistan were not freed by US because that’s what went in there to do. United States went to war against Taliban and Al Qaeda as they were the perpetrators of 9/11. As one of the outcomes, people in Afghanistan were freed of the tyrannical Talibans and to some extent, Al Qaeda. Do I think this was also a bad idea? No, not at all. Do I applaud the President for the actions he took. You betcha! And so does the whole world as is obvious from their participation in nation building more than a year after we finished “major combat” in Afghanistan.
Again, I cannot emphasize this point enough. I and many in this country (indeed the whole world) backed United States going after Al Qaeda and Talibans because it was the right thing to do. Please do not look at the result and spin the cause by saying something like - “Ah, that’s exactly why we went there.” We all know that the Talibans were tyrannical most of 1990s as well as 2000 and 20001.
As for Iraq, I have said it before and say it again - “I am happy for the Iraqis if and only if, after this insane bloodshed and loss of lives, they wish us well and build a better (democratic or theocratic) life for themselves.” But that IS NOT why the 970-odd families sent their luved ones to Iraq. More importantly, that’s not why the Commander-in-Chief sent these kids to Iraq. At least, not initially.
Let me just say this:
Does all this diminish the bravery of our soldiers? Nope. Does all this in any way take away the respect that each soldier ought to deserve when they return home? Certainly not. But, does it mean the nation should hold it’s commander-in-chief (and everyone who participated in the planning and execution of this war) responsible for their “miscalculations”. You betcha!
That’s what a Capitalistic America would do to the Senior Management of a failed company, even if their actions resulted in a few good things. And that’s precisely what a Democratic America should do to its Commander-in-Chief and his cabal!
Posted by: Anand Sharma at August 27, 2004 @ 10:20 am
Thanks Bob! Means a bunch.
- Anand
Posted by: Anand Sharma at August 27, 2004 @ 10:21 am