The War at Home
Our reasons for being dragged into this war in the first place, as presented by this Administration, changed every few months, depending. First, we were going to war because the big bad evil ruler Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and our country was at dire risk that he would use them some day.
When no weapons of mass destruction were found, well, then we were told we were really there to “liberate the Iraqi people.” At first, when the Iraqi people started blowing us up and shooting us, well, they were victims of foreign terrorists. But when most of the insurgents turned out to be Iraqis, then our reason for being there changed again, and suddenly, we were charged with “spreading democracy in the Middle East.”
We were told the insurgency was nothing but a “gang of thugs.” We were told it was “in its last throes.” Neither of which turned out to be true.
As the war dragged on and casualties mounted, first, we were told that we had trained something like 210,000 Iraqi Army troops. That number suddenly plummeted to 1,000 when an American Army general couldn’t stand it any more and told the truth. Now, we are told we have 210,000 troops trained again.
Of course, as we pointed out earlier, all the training in the world doesn’t matter if the government can’t function well enough to pay and arm the soldiers. As it is, armed militias are gaining great power. There is a Constitutional ban against them, and our roundtable urges that Iraq be pressured to enforce that ban in order to help ensure that civil war does not erupt.
When widespread looting exploded in Iraq after the invasion, our esteemed Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, said that things like that happen, no big deal, and that Iraq was no more unsafe than some cities in the US.
Yes, he really compared Iraq to the US in terms of violence. I wrote my son in Fallujah and said, “Thank God. Maybe next time you’ll be deployed to Detroit.”
The Marines and troops with whom I have spoken have told stories showing how the situation has absolutely deteriorated, from their first deployments—could drive down to the next post to visit a buddy—to their second deployments—little kids throwing rocks at them, mounting casualties and danger—to their third deployments—lives at risk every moment of every day and can’t trust ANYBODY.
When they come home, they can’t hardly drive down the road in the family car because they remain vigilant for roadside bombs.
Until this Administration deigns to tell the truth about what is happening over there, until they are willing to listen to their own advisors as to what the situation really is, and until they stop throwing around simplistic catch-phrases and
soothing the American public with false declarations of how wonderful everything is and deal with the reality, until they reach out to their allies—and enemies—for help and mutual compromises, then, as Senator Biden says, “If we fail to implement a plan…Iraq will become a Bush-fulfilling prophecy—a terrorist training ground and a full-blown civil war.”
And if that happens, he adds, “then all the king’s horses and all the king’s men cannot put Iraq together again.”
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I hope this lengthy analysis of the war in Iraq and the Democratic response to it, their thoughtful strategies for success, have provided you with some information you may not have had.
I hope, if nothing else, that you will distrust slogans and simplistic catch-phrases from either side and will take the time to find out for yourself this reality: We’re all in this together.
The Democrats are not the enemy.
And the Republicans are not the ONLY ONES capable of handling the global war on terror or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Electing a Democrat will not, as the vice president said, result in a “mushroom cloud” of some terrorist attack on our soil because our enemies assume the Democrats are weak.
This is all so much rhetoric. It is political, and it does not belong in a serious discussion about just what in the world we are all going to do to bring my son and my nephew and all the sons and daughters home, what in the world we are all going to do to find peace on this planet, and what in the world we are all going to do to keep from destroying one another, not just abroad, but here at home.
Our reasons for being dragged into this war in the first place, as presented by this Administration, changed every few months, depending. First, we were going to war because the big bad evil ruler Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and our country was at dire risk that he would use them some day.
When no weapons of mass destruction were found, well, then we were told we were really there to “liberate the Iraqi people.” At first, when the Iraqi people started blowing us up and shooting us, well, they were victims of foreign terrorists. But when most of the insurgents turned out to be Iraqis, then our reason for being there changed again, and suddenly, we were charged with “spreading democracy in the Middle East.”
We were told the insurgency was nothing but a “gang of thugs.” We were told it was “in its last throes.” Neither of which turned out to be true.
As the war dragged on and casualties mounted, first, we were told that we had trained something like 210,000 Iraqi Army troops. That number suddenly plummeted to 1,000 when an American Army general couldn’t stand it any more and told the truth. Now, we are told we have 210,000 troops trained again.
Of course, as we pointed out earlier, all the training in the world doesn’t matter if the government can’t function well enough to pay and arm the soldiers. As it is, armed militias are gaining great power. There is a Constitutional ban against them, and our roundtable urges that Iraq be pressured to enforce that ban in order to help ensure that civil war does not erupt.
When widespread looting exploded in Iraq after the invasion, our esteemed Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, said that things like that happen, no big deal, and that Iraq was no more unsafe than some cities in the US.
Yes, he really compared Iraq to the US in terms of violence. I wrote my son in Fallujah and said, “Thank God. Maybe next time you’ll be deployed to Detroit.”
The Marines and troops with whom I have spoken have told stories showing how the situation has absolutely deteriorated, from their first deployments—could drive down to the next post to visit a buddy—to their second deployments—little kids throwing rocks at them, mounting casualties and danger—to their third deployments—lives at risk every moment of every day and can’t trust ANYBODY.
When they come home, they can’t hardly drive down the road in the family car because they remain vigilant for roadside bombs.
Until this Administration deigns to tell the truth about what is happening over there, until they are willing to listen to their own advisors as to what the situation really is, and until they stop throwing around simplistic catch-phrases and
soothing the American public with false declarations of how wonderful everything is and deal with the reality, until they reach out to their allies—and enemies—for help and mutual compromises, then, as Senator Biden says, “If we fail to implement a plan…Iraq will become a Bush-fulfilling prophecy—a terrorist training ground and a full-blown civil war.”
And if that happens, he adds, “then all the king’s horses and all the king’s men cannot put Iraq together again.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope this lengthy analysis of the war in Iraq and the Democratic response to it, their thoughtful strategies for success, have provided you with some information you may not have had.
I hope, if nothing else, that you will distrust slogans and simplistic catch-phrases from either side and will take the time to find out for yourself this reality: We’re all in this together.
The Democrats are not the enemy.
And the Republicans are not the ONLY ONES capable of handling the global war on terror or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Electing a Democrat will not, as the vice president said, result in a “mushroom cloud” of some terrorist attack on our soil because our enemies assume the Democrats are weak.
This is all so much rhetoric. It is political, and it does not belong in a serious discussion about just what in the world we are all going to do to bring my son and my nephew and all the sons and daughters home, what in the world we are all going to do to find peace on this planet, and what in the world we are all going to do to keep from destroying one another, not just abroad, but here at home.
posted by Deanie Mills at 6:43 PM
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