Thursday, January 05, 2006

The Bodies Keep Piling Up in Bush's Iraq Fiasco


Twelve dead U.S. soldiers. 183 Iraqis killed. Violence has been raging out of control for the second straight day, with suicide bombs exploding in several different locations in and around Baghdad. The violence is getting worse, and the situation continues to spiral out of control. Since the December 15th election, the insurgency appears to be gaining strength and the region more deadly than ever.

We're stuck in a quagmire with few options for an exit. We have a president and his duplicitous cabinet relentlessly spinning a tale of progress and success despite the chaos all around. The deceptive rhetoric is both irresponsible and reprehensible, and is an attack on the intelligence of every single American. And it's got to stop.

Is there anyone who truly believes that Iraq could be stable without the same if not greater American military presence? Just look at the violence and chaos with 130,000 U.S. troops in the region. What the heck could we expect if the inept and undermanned Iraqi army and police are left to handle the insurgency alone? So when Bush and Rummy declare that an eventual troop drawdown is likely, perhaps even next year, they're either smokin' some kick-ass ganga or are lying through their teeth.

Rep. John Murtha's November proposal to have the troops withdrawn within 6 months seemed radical to many at the time, and failed to garner the bi-partisan (even Democratic) support to give it momentum. But as each new day passes, it seems to become the only viable solution to this debacle unless we as Americans are ok with having our soldiers constantly killed, injured and maimed with no end in sight. And for what? So that Iraq can fall into the hands of the enemy, as Vietnam did, the second we pull out? Is America ready to wage another decade-long battle only to lose out in the end as we did in Southeast Asia? Are we ready for potentially tens of thousands more soldiers to be flown home in body bags? For hundreds of thousands maimed and injured? For hundreds of billions more dollars to be spent?

We are constantly told by the Busheviks that we cannot pull out because that will throw the country into chaos and into the hands of the Iran-sponsored radical Muslim fundamentalists. We're constantly told that "we must stay the course until victory." But how they define victory has yet to be determined. Can a true Iraqi democracy, sustained by its own military and police force, be an inevitable reality? Most Middle East experts think not. Not only is the entire region a hotbed of violence and extremism, but Iraq itself is three cultures/countries in one: Kurds in the North, Shiites in the South, and the much newly disenfranchised Sunnis in between. And then there's the ominous Iran influence, and the insurgency itself.

It's incredulous that the Bushies originally thought they could waltz into Iraq and turn it into a true, self-sustaining democracy. It's even more mind-blowing that they still do. It's time to admit the gross miscalculations, cut our losses, and get the hell out of there.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah but, Bush will not admit this was a big mistake.

Brain dead Americans still support him. They even support wire tapping of Americans because as they like to say, "I've got nothing to hide".

Boy the dumbing down of America that we have been warned about since the 1970s is upon us!

Cathy from Michigan

Anonymous said...

One of the directors here at work was telling me today about his son in Afghanistan. He sent his dad pictures of the barracks all made out of plywood and little insulation. His son said it’s 4 above and the toilets are all frozen, the showers are cold and it’s miserable at best. He can’t figure out why after 4 years of setting up camp there that this hasn’t been fixed. I just wonder why the news media isn’t going there and reporting these things.

The whole invasion is a joke and Cathy is correct, why are people STILL backing this dictator, are so many still blind? Then again these are the Wal-Mart shopping, FOX news watching, Jerry Springer, flag waving, church going group that can’t think for themselves.

I still predict 2006 will be a turn around for all of this crap going on and the tide will turn our way.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure this was the real plan anyway. The Bushies couldn't be that stupid.
The plan was: create chaos; misappropriate billions to their friends & family in the MIC (military-industrial complex); Secretly build permanent bases around the oil fields; Redeploy from all Iraq to those new bases; While the rest of Iraq desends into shia & sunni civil war, with the support of the Kurds secure the oil.

Anonymous said...

Well, let's not forget that an overwhelming majority of the "Wal-Mart shopping, FOX news watching, Jerry Springer, flag waving, church going group" are otherwise known as "the poor." They and their kids are the ones, as System of a Down points out, who get sent over to these places at the behest of megalomaniac politicians.

There's a fine line between liberal outrage and, let's face it, condescending classism. I'm guilty at times myself, believe me. But the fact of the matter remains that some of us are able to blog about political issues during our lunch hours in our cubicles and some people work two minimum-wage jobs a day to barely scrape by and *maybe* get a chance to watch part of the nightly TV news. As was pointed out during the Democratic Convention, there are indeed "two Americas," and what happens is that when one side speaks, the other puts its collective fingers in its ears and says "la la la la la la."

I have faith that Americans will eventually see the score. It's truly a shame that hundreds of thousands of people had to die before we reach that point as a nation.

Anonymous said...

I understand Karen where you're coming from, but there is still no excuse for those "poor" people not to be able to think for themselves about what is happening in their lives that could be changed if they "only had a brain".

When these people leave work do they listen to the "proper" news networks (not just Rush or FOX), NPR has GREAT programs, or do they tune in the loudest head banger station? No I'm sorry but in this day and age there is NO excuse for not being informed, after all this is 2006.

Talking with well off people they too bury their heads and say, "I don't like bad news", "They never tell the truth any way so why listen" or the best one yet "I don't have time".

It sould be everyones duty to know what is going on in this world and being rich or poor should have nothing to do with it.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I think we're all guilty to some extent of listening to our own echo chambers. I mean, hello? Echo! Echo! Echo!

I'll confess, I don't spend a lot of time reading conservative websites and blogs because...uh, I don't want to hear it. And yeah, I'm part of the reason that there's so little real discourse in our country.

Yes, many lower-class people in this country are guilty of believing what they want to believe and believing what is spoon-fed to them. Which exacerbates their (and our) problems. But having lived for a time with not enough food in the kitchen and angry creditors calling and my mom with a minimum wage job, I know that your daily NEEDS drown out anything you hear on the television or the radio. Many of them are in the military and have children in the military, and I can *understand* why they'd just want to believe that everything will turn out for the best and that our government knows what it's doing. I'm not saying it's right, but I can understand why they'd feel that way.

Hell, I think the American electorate as a whole is stupid as shit, and I'm angry that people are *just now* experiencing buyer's remorse when the dreadfulness of the Bush administration was apparent well before the 2000 election. But I think we just shouldn't sneer at these people if we want to win them over.

Anonymous said...

Once again Karen you're on the money. I do listen once in a while to the "other side" just to see how screwed up they really are.

I just can't understand why people who are without healthcare and are earning minimum wages continue to support the republican party. They know fully that these two problems in this country (plus 1000's more) will NEVER be corrected as long as the GOP is in power. Ted Kennedy is once again bringing up a bill to increase the minimum wage but he's just pissing in the wind as long as the GOP remain in command.

I have to agree also on your take on stupid voters and you were in fact kind calling them stupid as shit, I just can't think of a better word right now :o)

I'm sure you and Andy, as well as many other of his readers can remember how we were SCREAMING "DON'T GO TO WAR!" There were so many dumb as shit people that once again fell for the Bush crap of WMD and we'll be saaaafer if we fight them there instead of here. I never gave up my opposition to this invasion and now I have to rub it in their faces, too little too late.

What in the hell are people thinking in this country? We are not very well liked around the world but we still live in a shell here and listen to just what we're told. I went to Australia in 2004 and talking to the people you get a feel for what they think and it wasn't good. They love the Americans it's the government they hate. Last year I went to China and the exact same feeling. The American public is just like the pResident, living in a bubble.

Check out the web site americanpolitics.com and see the story about CNN and some reporters being wiretapped, they have a lot of interesting news stories.

chuck said...

It's time for an 'outside special counsel' so that the IMPEACHMENT process can begin to move.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for that. Bush should have been impeached about 13 times over already. This is beyond ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who voted for this sorry administration has no one to blame but themselves - rich or poor. Lack of attention and intuition, along with a healthy dose of letting others do their thinking for them, led to this. Not sure they were in the majority, though. There is that pesky problem of possible stolen votes in Florida and Ohio and religion has been a real problem in the arena of common sense. But still, everyone has the opportunity to think for themselves and so they are ultimately responsible for their beliefs and votes. Too bad so many chose to have a stupid moment! Now it's up to us to make sure they are up to speed with reality, whether their radio/tv came from Wal-mart or Abercrombie and Fitch.

Joe Smoe: American Citizen said...

I feel just angry at everyone I see here in Georgia knowing how great a percentage of them are the Wal-Marters who enabled the crime of the millennium by putting their brains on autopilot for Jesus.


THAT'S A GOOD ONE!!!! And oh so true. Eggman take solace as I do in knowing that these slackjawed Bible Bangin Rubes will be the ones that will for a large part be screwed the most by the Chimp in Chief as their Blue Collar Mill jobs are shipped to China and they will be the ones that serve and get their collective asses shot off in the IRAQ DEBACLE...let them believe in and fight for the Failed neocon policies.