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In funding of the Iraq War, supporters have thrown our soldiers under the bus

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Message Mary MacElveen
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As one reads where Senator Harry Reid may move to cut funds to this war in Iraq, it is time for Americans that voted for a change to come forth in support of this measure.  It is time to rise and shine America.  You can no longer hide in some fox hole oblivious to this war’s failure. As of today, 3,252 soldiers have lost their lives.

Some see Reid’s call as being an uphill battle “because many of his colleagues see yanking funds as a dangerous last resort.” Do you really want to know what is dangerous? It is leaving our men and women over in that hell hole created by President Bush.  Our politicians do not even know what true danger is as our soldiers are picked off one-by-one.  They may visit, but they do not know what life is like for our soldiers in this guerilla war-fare which has eroded into an all out civil war. By supplying them with ammunition and body armor only goes to pay the defense contractors and it does nothing to stop the blood letting.  Only getting them out of Iraq will stop it. Senator John F. Kerry who did see battle in Viet Nam stated, “In the face of the administration’s stubborn unwillingness to change course, the Senate has no choice but to force a change of course,” as he signed on as a co-sponsor of this measure with Senator Reid along with Senator Russ Feingold.  Do you want to talk of real bravery in the face of danger, it was none other than Senator Russ Feingold who voted to oppose this war and was the lone dissenter when the Patriot Act was voted into law.  He heard the rally cry from the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt who said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” This is no longer about red versus blue, but about red white and blue.  We as Americans have had a long history of facing our greatest fears and confronting them head on.  During the Cold War, we stared down the Soviet Union and we are going to let a bully president instill fear in all of us?  No, that is NOT the American way. We should NOT allow a bully president tell us what our shared destiny shall be.  He does not own us and let us never forget that. While this article states, “The move is likely to intensify the Democrats' rift with the administration, which already contends Democrats are putting troops at risk by setting deadlines.” In the words of President Bush as he painted a bulls-eye on that backs of our soldiers, “Bring em on” Senate and House Democrats should be blunt with the American people telling them exactly who is putting our troops at risk and it is none other than President Bush. In fact, Senate and House Republicans who have always claimed they do support our troops must demand that these troops do come home. As one reads, "154 House Republicans sent Bush a letter promising to stick with him in opposition to the legislation." Those are the legislators who do not support our troops and will keep them in this meat grinder. By backing President Bush, they threw our soldiers under the bus to borrow a phrase often used by Countdown's Keith Olbermann. You will see the lunacy in this passage, “Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for Bush's National Security Council, said the leaders agreed that the effort "must be carried out until lasting success can be achieved." Al-Maliki repeated his promise to pass legislation seen as key to moving Sunnis and Shiites from battling each other to political compromise.” Excuse me, but it was not the Sunnis or the Shiites that attacked us on 9/11, it was al Qaeda.  I will speak of them further on in this piece. Vice President Cheney stated, "It's time the self-appointed strategists on Capitol Hill understood a very simple concept: You cannot win a war if you tell the enemy you're going to quit," One should ask the vice president who placed us into this military theater in the first place and did so based upon lies?  We left another war namely the Viet Nam War when congress cut the funds to that bloody quagmire.  It did not harm our reputation and we learned a lesson from that war.  But, it was the Bush/Cheney White House that failed to learn our shared history or ignore it all together. While our soldiers who came home from the Viet Nam War did not receive any victory parades as those that faught in World War Two, they did come home. They came home after fifty eight thousand two hundred and twenty nine lives were ended according to Alfred A. Hambidge, Jr's piece, 'The Wall'.  In ignoring the casualty rate in the Viet Nam War, both Bush and Cheney spit on their service to our country.  They both defiled their memories as well. How many lives will it take for this alleged victory to take place?  Will we see this war on terror taking the lives that will surpass the casualty rate of the Viet Nam War?  Do these neo-conservatives want one hundred thousand dead and more? I am beginning to think so. 

While this White House redeployed our troops from Afghanistan to Iraq, the New York Times reported Al Qaeda is restoring their leadership. This administration baited us and switched our focus off of Al Qaeda to topple Saddam Hussein and ultimately hang him.

 

In a letter to the NY Times, I wrote, "It is through this statement that one sees the lunacy that has taken hold of our government when it was said, "American officials say they still know little about how operatives communicate with Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri...“There has to be some kind of communication up the line, we just don’t see it,” Perhaps they were focusing more on American citizens instead of focusing in on Al Qaeda.

 

“We just don’t see it” should have every American screaming of Bush’s incompetence and failure." It also deals with the failure of the intelligence this administration is relying on.  Oops, President Bush is relying on Iraqi bloggers.  Question here; why are American officials calling the man responsible for 9/11 Mr. bin Laden?  I call him a murderer.

 

Further on in my letter to the NY Times, I wrote, “But, it is this quote within the article that has me spitting nails, “The United States offers a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture. But American officials are divided about how important a role he plays, or whether top Qaeda leaders are merely using him for propaganda." Pres. Bush promised us Osama bin Laden “dead or alive” and how dare this administration go back on their word.  3,000 citizens died on 9/11 and this administration only used that attack for their larger plan which was the invasion of Iraq.  By allowing this restoration to take place, Pres. Bush has failed this country.  Some ‘war-time’ president he has turned out to be.

 

I will be using this NY Times in a future article to confront the lack of intelligence coming from the CIA, but in this column this resurgence of Al Qaeda should be the very tool that the Democratic majority uses to shore up some semblance of leadership in order to cut the funds.  We were fighting the wrong damn war from its inception and the sooner the American people get that message, the better.

 

Author’s note:  Should you wish to email me concerning this article as well as others, my email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net

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Mary MacElveen Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

I am a writer who currently writes pieces for my own blog http://www.mary-macelveen.blogspot.com I have been published by Buzzflash.com, TheLiberalPatriot.org and MikeHersh.com. I was a guest on the Jay Diamond Radio Show on WRKO in Boston and have (more...)
 
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