A Mess of War and Ego (Op-Ed.)

Tom Shusterman, Opinion Journalism, 3 May 2007.

A Mess of War and Ego

The war in Iraq is effectively over. And regardless of what President Bush says to the media, America has lost. American troop deaths have now extended into the thousands, with this past month being declared the deadliest since the war began four years ago. An estimated 104 United States soldiers lost their lives in April and for nothing more than simply hindering the Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites efforts to kill one another. The Iraqis do not care about the US occupation; they care about revenge and being able to exercise it in as brutal a fashion as possible.

President Bush fails to see this and even worse he seems to prescribe to the same barbaric philosophy himself. He has been so intent on screaming battle cries for war these past years that he has failed to notice that few are paying attention to him or his terror rhetoric any longer. He is blind and deaf to it all and innocent Americans are paying the price.

Perhaps all of this is a result of the president’s own vendetta against Saddam Hussein, who tried to have his father assassinated so many years ago. Of course American citizens also spent the better part of a year preceding the war listening to government experts explain how Iraq was building nuclear weapons and allied with Osama bin Laden. But there were no bombs, no link to Al Qaeda. Saddam Hussein is long dead and the Iraqis are free. The reasons for war have fallen by the wayside and now there is nothing left to rationally explain this horrific invasion that violated so many of the provisions spelled out in the Geneva Convention. Without justification this war should have ended. But as every American knows this isn’t the case.

The statues of Hussein have fallen, a new government has been established, and yet still Bush requests nearly $124 billion to continue his war. And it is his war for his legacy and nothing more. The American people mustn't be fooled.

Ironically enough, the anti-war Congress granted this request and asked only one thing in return: that the American soldiers be allowed to return home soon, with a promise that they had fulfilled their duty in a war that never should have been. The president promptly refused them.

In only the second time during his presidency, Bush used his veto power to prevent the war spending bill put before him by the House and Senate from taking affect. Maintaining his hard-line stance on eradicating all global terror, Bush stubbornly asserted that, “Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure, and that would be irresponsible.” Some might suggest that allowing even a single American life to be lost in a conquest not his own to be irresponsible, even downright offensive.

This veto, which in itself shows that the president values his pride above anything else, puts the thousands of American troops in Iraq in a terrible position. Not only are they being asked to continue to fight a war with nearly no popular support and substandard equipment, but they must now continue this task knowing that there is a very real possibility that funding for their enterprise will expire within a month. They would have fought, suffered, and died for nothing. This is something the president promised wouldn’t happen, that he alone would refuse to abandon his soldiers. In fact, ‘Support the troops!’ must be Bush’s second favorite catchphrase; his first being taken from Winston Churchill, ‘Victory at all costs!’

This ‘victory’ will mean that a great many more American lives will be lost as General David Patraeus conducts his 28 thousand troop surge on Baghdad. More parents will lose children; husbands will lose their wives, and wives their husbands. All this blood spilled can and should be laid at the president’s feet. It is no wonder why Bush refuses to attend any of the funerals of these fallen heroes. It is most likely out of respect for the families involved. After all they should not be subjected to looking upon the face of their loved one’s killer.

Sources

Associated Press. “Key Figures About Iraq.” The Washington Post 1 May 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com

Raghaven, Susan and Karin Brulliard. “April Toll Is Highest Of ’07 for U.S. Troops.” The Washington Post 1 May 2007. http://www.washintonpost.com

Stolberg, Sheryl Gay and Jeff Zeleny. “Bush Vetoes Bill Tying Iraq Funds to Exit.” The New York Times 2 May 2007. http://www.nytimes.com