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He was basking in the glorious sight of Saddam
Hussein’s statue being pulled from its pedestal in Baghdad. The mightiest military on earth had made short order of the
third rate Iraqi military, just as everyone predicted. President George W. Bush stopped an aircraft carrier with
returning troops for a PR opportunity.
In a borrowed flight jacket, he was landed on the flight deck. A large banner overlooked the president and the
sailors and soldiers. It
said: “Mission accomplished.” Looking back on it, we could wonder now just
what was the mission. If
the objective was to whip up on the ill trained, poorly equipped Iraqi
army, the goal was reached. If
the idea was to remove a dictator from power, then it had been done. But that wasn’t supposed to be our mission.
The American people were told Saddam had weapons of mass
destruction ready to unleash them on the world.
He was supposed to have stockpiles of nuclear weapons along with
chemical and biological capability.
America and the free world was said to be in danger. Even worse—Saddam was in league with bin Laden
and the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in New York.
Iraq was a haven for terrorists. President Bush tried to make his case with the
United Nations. They
didn’t buy it. He tried
NATO and our friends and allies in Europe.
They thought the idea of Saddam being a threat to the world was
ridiculous. Bush brought out pumped up intelligence reports
that supported his case. No
matter that others scoffed at the data.
He believed what he wanted to believe, and convinced Congress and
the American people there was imminent danger. With the purchase of a few allies like Spain and
Iceland, Bush launched a preeminent attack on Iraq.
He called the army he led the coalition forces.
With a chance to test the latest military advances, weapons such
as the huge bunker busting bomb were used.
Whole city blocks were destroyed.
As wars go, it was short and victory seemed absolute. One day some insider will write about what went
on behind closed doors at the White House in the days building up to the
invasion of Iraq. It seems
safe to say Colin Powell wasn’t in favor of it.
It seems certain that Dick Cheney wanted to go.
It was a boon for his Halliburton company and would put a few
more million in his pocket. Never
mind the story was first that Halliburton wouldn’t participate in
repairing the damage caused by our bombs. While America’s treasury went from a surplus
to a deficit over $7-trillion, the president continued to come out with
snappy one liners delivered in his best John Wayne imitation.
In quick fashion, history had be to be rewritten to cover the
failure to locate weapons of mass destruction.
To their credit, though the Bush-Cheney team still insist the
weapons are there. Some
even believe they have bin Laden in hiding and some vials of anthrax
stashed away to unveil just before the election. For the moment, though, and to make the excuse
for war sound better, the reason for attacking Iraq changed from WMD to
“Iraqi Freedom.” America’s
mission was to save the Iraqi people from their dictator.
Lots of dictators around the world.
But Saddam merited personal attention. Let us assume that President Bush has earned the
right to say “Mission Accomplished.”
Just what has he accomplished. More American lives have been lost since the
supposed end of hostilities than occurred during the invasion. No one publicizes the civilian death told from being caught
in the crossfire. When American money was being spent on repairing
the damage from the invasion, Bush announced that nations who had not
joined him could not share in the rebuilding cash cow.
Now he has had to go back to the United Nations, NATO and the
European nations to ask for
help, the same nations he brushed aside.. The Middle East is destabilized.
Democracy is not a familiar and comfortable visitor to that part
of the world. Under cover
of night, the Bush administration quietly turned over the reigns of
government to an ill prepared Iraqi temporary government.
The nation is in anarchy. All
of the Middle East is a powder keg. Instead of zeroing in on bin Laden after the
Twin Towers bombing, Bush threw fuel on the fire of terrorism and it has
spread worldwide. Americans
aren’t safe abroad. They
have been advised to leave Saudi Arabia.
Tourists are warned when they travel. America is no longer trusted among the nations
we called friends. They saw
how a president can ignore world opinion to wage war.
They have seen the American president believe a little torture is
okay, the Geneva convention is worthless and suspected enemies can be
held indefinitely with disregard to any kind of humane rights. President Bush came up with another one liner on
turning over a country in turmoil to the Iraqi hand picked leaders.
He said, “Let freedom reign.” Military leaders know America will be stationed
there and policing Iraq for another ten years—at least.
Costs to the American taxpayer will go on. Just think what that money could have done for education or
health care. If Iraq has seen a “mission accomplished,”
maybe the American people should ask what the mission really was.
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