Reply #6: May 2004 letter by the same author -- a true hero [View All]

[lebkuchen]

Lies and failures cost lives

It’s time for Americans to admit that this presidential administration is a miserable failure. It has lied to its citizens and soldiers about the reasons for war, been fiscally irresponsible and sullied our great nation’s reputation to the rest of the world.

The revelations of prisoner abuse in Iraq reflect the incompetence and poor planning of the Bush administration, not just of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The war and its aftermath were thoughtlessly undertaken, disregarding respected opinions from our intelligence analysts and military leaders about the threat from weapons of mass destruction and the number of troops required.

Rather than taking responsibility, President Bush had CIA Director George Tenet take the fall for the White House failures to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Now Rumsfeld is asked to do the same for Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who once had credibility, were played for fools on the world stage.

Wanting a hurry-up Iraq invasion for political reasons, current civilian leadership didn’t even bother to provide proper equipment and shielding for our soldiers, and we’ve had casualties because of it. The oft-repeated phrase of “best-led, best- equipped” is nothing more than a political response for the ultimate betrayal of our fighting forces. Had we patiently cultivated multinational support, the burden of conquering Iraq and the war’s aftermath wouldn’t have fallen so heavily on U.S. troops, reservists, guardsmen and their families.

World opinion of the United States, which was so favorable after Sept. 11, is now at its lowest level. Jokes about the French are a weak attempt to minimize foreign-relations failures. Support from allies vanished because the war was designed to serve the president’s bizarre Oedipal and political purposes. Now the Arab world views us as oppressors engaged in a religious war, not defenders of democratic ideals.

Bush admits he doesn’t read newspapers, except for the sports pages, and dislikes policy discussions. In other words, he chooses to be dumb and uninformed. He and Vice President Dick Cheney operate from the feeling of, “I’m going to do what I want, even if it hurts America or endangers soldiers and citizens.” Their political advisers try to spin this as resolute, strong and committed, but the public sees it as reckless extremism. Today’s complicated world requires thoughtful, deliberative and nuanced policy analysis, a process in which these men don’t engage.

Comparing Bush to President Clinton is irrelevant. References to Sen. John Kerry as a flip-flopper or his war medals come directly from a desperate, embarrassed Republican Party. This president, who vowed to restore integrity to the Oval Office, has done the opposite by being reckless, thoughtless and having no empathy for those whom his decisions hurt. He can’t even muster the courage to visit the maimed, attend funerals of the fallen or understand why he should.

Sexual misconduct every day in the White House is preferable to lies that kill and injure soldiers and waste billions of taxpayer dollars. These lies and failures have cost lives, set back the war on terrorism and harmed our republic. This administration doesn’t deserve another four years.

M.D. Wooldridge
Würzburg, Germany

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=31550