4000 soldiers dead ... and how many families devastated, and how many more lives ruined by the emotional ravages of war? And how many Iraqi citizens and private contractors?
Thank you Mr. Bush. You must be very proud.
This shameful undertaking, gutting our national treasury, spoiling our international reputation, and unbalancing the already difficult Middle East - quite a record, Mr. President. Along with all the other follies of your administration, you will go down as our worst president, and it will take years, I'm afraid, for this great nation to recover its balance, its reputation and heal the wounds you have inflicted.
I'm sure you're a good decent man, and your family loves you.
But you were either bilked by the neo-cons or in league with them from the beginning, and if you were in league with them, no wonder your father maintained his distance.
I believe the American armed forces to be some of the best in the world, but no army can long be an occupier in such a volatile region. History is filled with the tragic stories of empires who tried and failed to conquer large territories. Rome lasted longer than all of them, or maybe the Holy Roman Empire, but long before they fell, they were unraveling on the borders, and then from within. The human spirit is such that it cannot be long be conquered by a foreign power. It's a lesson taught by history but ignored by powerful nations.
I love the land of the free. I am a grateful American, but I know too much to blindly support every policy, and I know too much to trust every president, especially one who entered office questionably and then found himself the beneficiary of 9/11, a card he and his Repub strategists have played well and played to the max.
4000 lives lost in a failed policy now championed by McCain.
Shall it be 8000?
10,000?
A slow bleed?
How many more lives for this foolish and unsustainable policy?
Now is the time to end our folly, admit our wrong (which will never happen, because there are just too many blind patriots who believe that we can do no wrong, and that our every adventure is one of purity and good will), and bring our soldiers homes.
Now is the time to rebuild our economy, to become the moral leader of the world when it comes to compassion and justice.
And to be utterly practical - to pay attention to China, who grows larger and more influential as we speak, while we fritter away our national resources in a wild goose chase.
The world is always dangerous, and we need to be wise, and if current events mean anything at all, we would be wise to look to the Far East rather than the Middle East.
Ah well ... so it goes.
