Iraq Plus Five - Ho Hum
Five years after the US invaded Iraq, the war grinds on, unsupported by the majority of the American people or the Iraqi populace. The conflict in Iraq has now lasted longer than World War II and will end up costing many times more. If one is to believe the statements of the Bush administration and president George Bush’s presumptive Republican successor John McCain, the war is going just fine.
The same arrogance and disdain for the intelligence of the American people that allowed this disaster to happen was manifested again in statements by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and John McCain yesterday. In his message to the country, the president again outlined the now famous narrative that if we don’t win in Iraq, al-Qaida will establish a stronghold from which it will be able to attack the United States. Never mind that we have all but ignored going after al-Qaida in Pakistan where, according to most observers, including our own government, Osama bin Laden resides. Never mind that al-Qaida could just as easily establish bases in any of a dozen other Arab or North African states from which it could conduct operations. Never mind that Mr. Bush has yet to describe his plan for "winning" or to precisely explain what that term will mean in Iraq.
The president has no compulsion to explain his reasoning, because he knows that, at this point, it's not necessary - polls indicate that the majority of the American public simply isn’t listening any longer; with the economy teetering on shaky ground, the vox populi is nowhere to be heard; they've tuned out - and that is a tragedy. The disdain the administration has for the country's concern about Iraq may be somewhat understandable. After five years of a war that was based on false premises, a war that has demonstrated the incompetence and unethical behavior of the nation's leaders and has clearly damaged the US economy, public outrage was almost nowhere to be seen on the anniversary. But for a few scattered demonstrations around the nation, nobody could have guessed that there was any wide-spread opposition to the war.
This lack of concern couldn’t have been more appropriately expressed than through the astounding arrogance of vice president Dick Cheney. In responding to Martha Radich of ABC news, who pointed out that two-thirds of Americans in a recent poll said that they believed the war was a mistake and is not worth fighting, Mr. Cheney said simply, “So?” With a truly unsettling smirk, the vice president underscored that he is not moved by the fluctuations in opinion polls.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, news viewers were treated to the spectacle of John McCain who in the middle of his visit to Iraq, had to be corrected by Senator Joe Lieberman when McCain confidently stated that Iran was training Al Qaida terrorists and sending them over the border to fight in Iraq. Some of those who saw clips of the statement found it a bit odd that after five years of war the man who the GOP wants as our next commander in chief, a man whose strong suit is reportedly national security, a man who has visited Iraq eight times, is a man who could make such a fundamental blunder .
No matter. There is no outcry, because the majority of the public can't tell the difference. Soccer moms are too busy driving the kids to practice; hubby is stuck in traffic; the campuses are quiet with everyone busy working on their MBAs; If we are to believe president McCain, we will be in Iraq for the next 100 years - ample time to figure out precisely whom we are fighting.
Five years after the US invaded Iraq, the war grinds on, unsupported by the majority of the American people or the Iraqi populace. The conflict in Iraq has now lasted longer than World War II and will end up costing many times more. If one is to believe the statements of the Bush administration and president George Bush’s presumptive Republican successor John McCain, the war is going just fine.
The same arrogance and disdain for the intelligence of the American people that allowed this disaster to happen was manifested again in statements by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and John McCain yesterday. In his message to the country, the president again outlined the now famous narrative that if we don’t win in Iraq, al-Qaida will establish a stronghold from which it will be able to attack the United States. Never mind that we have all but ignored going after al-Qaida in Pakistan where, according to most observers, including our own government, Osama bin Laden resides. Never mind that al-Qaida could just as easily establish bases in any of a dozen other Arab or North African states from which it could conduct operations. Never mind that Mr. Bush has yet to describe his plan for "winning" or to precisely explain what that term will mean in Iraq.
The president has no compulsion to explain his reasoning, because he knows that, at this point, it's not necessary - polls indicate that the majority of the American public simply isn’t listening any longer; with the economy teetering on shaky ground, the vox populi is nowhere to be heard; they've tuned out - and that is a tragedy. The disdain the administration has for the country's concern about Iraq may be somewhat understandable. After five years of a war that was based on false premises, a war that has demonstrated the incompetence and unethical behavior of the nation's leaders and has clearly damaged the US economy, public outrage was almost nowhere to be seen on the anniversary. But for a few scattered demonstrations around the nation, nobody could have guessed that there was any wide-spread opposition to the war.
This lack of concern couldn’t have been more appropriately expressed than through the astounding arrogance of vice president Dick Cheney. In responding to Martha Radich of ABC news, who pointed out that two-thirds of Americans in a recent poll said that they believed the war was a mistake and is not worth fighting, Mr. Cheney said simply, “So?” With a truly unsettling smirk, the vice president underscored that he is not moved by the fluctuations in opinion polls.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, news viewers were treated to the spectacle of John McCain who in the middle of his visit to Iraq, had to be corrected by Senator Joe Lieberman when McCain confidently stated that Iran was training Al Qaida terrorists and sending them over the border to fight in Iraq. Some of those who saw clips of the statement found it a bit odd that after five years of war the man who the GOP wants as our next commander in chief, a man whose strong suit is reportedly national security, a man who has visited Iraq eight times, is a man who could make such a fundamental blunder .
No matter. There is no outcry, because the majority of the public can't tell the difference. Soccer moms are too busy driving the kids to practice; hubby is stuck in traffic; the campuses are quiet with everyone busy working on their MBAs; If we are to believe president McCain, we will be in Iraq for the next 100 years - ample time to figure out precisely whom we are fighting.
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