Some folks inherit
star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war.
And when you ask them,
"How much should we give?"
They only answer "More! More! More!"
Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival
We are asking our soldiers to fight and fight and fight in a “war” that has no end. The Bush administration never had a clear objective in mind beyond toppling Saddam Hussein and securing the Iraqi oil fields. Now they don’t know how to get us out of this quagmire and they are not sure that they want to.
There are some obvious political benefits for a Republican administration during wartime. They have an open checkbook for as much military spending as their hearts’ desire and they have a built-in excuse to ignore domestic issues like healthcare and the environment. The war also helps to overshadow and cover up a stagnant and flagging economy weighed down by the massive deficits that are being piled up due to the administration’s fiscal irresponsibility (i.e. cutting taxes when the funds are needed elsewhere).
The war helped cover up the many faults and weaknesses of the Bush presidency during the first term and helped him to squeak by for a second term.
But the 2006 midterms showed that the public’s patience is finally spent. Bush’s anemic approval ratings are dragging down his party and threatening to undermine Republican electoral hopes in 2008. Yet, for some reason Bush and company cannot bring themselves to admit error or to change course in any way in Iraq. When public sentiment clearly demanded an orderly withdrawal, Bush pressed ahead with a surge of more troops. And as before, there is no plan to ever allow the “surge” to recede. Bush will continue to demand “More! More! More!” from our soldiers until he is finally out of office. His legacy to our nation will be a thoroughly spent and exhausted military operation in the midst of a festering crisis.
No comments:
Post a Comment