It has seemed to me for some time that the Administration is puruing a path of insanity. They keep demanding that we see things their way, yet keep pursuing actions that can only increase our distrust. So, with little hope of them accepting the challenge, I have decided to throw down the gauntlet, and point out one possible way to start earning America's respect and support. This is my first attempt at writing a diary, so be patient with any format flaws. And follow me below.
President Bush is apparently digging in his heels on the war, and is mounting a renewed effort to bring about a "renewed commitment" on the part of Americans to stay the course. He is pulling out all the stops, mounting a full onslought propaganda campaign. He and his close cabal of Iron Triangle co-conspirators are doing their doggone best to shout down anyone who dares disagree. O'Reilly, Hannity, and Limbaugh are picking fights with anybody to the left of Atilla the Hun trying to make them look weak, and soft on terror. As if the answer to all our problems were just more and bigger guns pointed at the rest of the world, and the sociopaths ready to use them.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not aiming any criticism at our troops. Most of them actually do think they're over there defending us, our freedoms, our very way of life. And they're doing their duty, and risking their lives, day in and day out. Even though I never served in the military, my father and two daughters did. And I have the utmost respect for their commitment and valor. But I heap nothing but scorn on our President and the military-industrial complex he represents.
War is big business! Actually, the biggest of business! The mother-of-them-all spigot to the national treasury and the wealth of Iraq. And that's why Bush and Cheney got us into this war, to plunder Iraq, to steal (at gunpoint) the profits from their oil, and fleece the American tax payer. This war was never about freeing Iraqis from Hussein's iron grip (our government actually likes dictators). It wasn't about spreading domocracy through the middle east. And as we know, it wasn't about finding weapons of mass destruction (we didn't even try - in fact we guaranteed that wouldn't happen). It was all about the money. That's all war is ever about. You might as well face the nasty fact. Greedy and stupid men send us to war so they can line their pockets. Were this not the case, we would have done things very differently.
And if President Bush really wants America to recommit to the war, and stay the course. Then he is going to have to win the hearts and minds of the American people - the mothers and fathers asked to sacrifice their young for the cause - the wives and children praying each day that providence will bring their loved ones home - and the tax payers watching their hard-earned tax dollars just thrown away by the pallet full to greedy war profiteers.
How, at this late date can this be done? It won't be easy. It will take a total moral reversal by the administration. It will take un-doing all the corrupt and stupid things that got us here. For starters, it will take un-doing all the world order directives issued by Jerry Bremer. For starters, we need to return their banks to Iraqi ownership. The same ones we forced them to sell off at fire sale prices. We need to allow them to reintroduce trade tarriffs on imported goods, that we forced them to drop. We need to allow them to re-impose bans on usury. We need to allow them to really pick their own leaders, not the ones we want them to pick, because they've been bought off through our corruption. We need to start protecting those tax dollars being spent on the war effort as if they really were sacred. We need to set up protections against fraud and waste instead of facilitating it. We need to see the President declare that not one more millionaire will be created through defense contracts, and then back it up with the most transparent and severe enforcement. Stop punishing the whistle-blowers, and give them the tools and access to do their jobs. And perhaps most painful to all the President's men, we need to give back the oil participation money (70%) of the profits now being stolen at gun point and given to the big four oil companies.
There it is, renounce these reasons for going to war. Back it up with verifiable proof. Attempt at least to reclaim some moral authority through your actions. And beg America's forgiveness for the life and treasure lost to this blood-sucking filth of a war machine. Maybe then, just maybe, people will stop calling for your head Mr. President, and start pulling together to end this debacle with some dignity.