President Bush And The Great Myths Of Iraq

What a world we live in. Let's look at Iraq. We know the President said ostensibly that the reason for invading was to find weapons of mass destruction, and prevent Saddam Hussein from using them. His removal from office could create a new democratic Iraq. America invaded and found no weapons of mass destruction � not even a hint of them.

Now the media is basically reporting that we are involved in a Civil War in Iraq, and we are losing it. Somewhere in between the two ends of the story is the truth and you need to know it, so that you don't have to be inundated with bias from all sides of the media, both liberal and conservative. Let's go through the great myths of Iraq.

Myth 1 � Invading Iraq has helped us with the War on Terrorism

Nonsense, there is no war on terrorism in Iraq. Osama Bin Laden attacked the two World Trade Center buildings in NYC more than five years ago. Hello, has anybody heard recently whether anybody is looking for Bin Laden anymore. If so who, what resources are being devoted to taking down this awful, hateful man? I suggest very little is being done. Everyone's attention is on Iraq.

Saddam Hussein was not an exporter of terror. He used terror as an internal weapon inside Iraq to control the very people that we obviously can't control. These people do not want a democracy, if they did, they would fight for it. Instead, they fight each other, even in the same neighborhoods. It's a Civil War folks, pure and simple.

Myth 2 � The military's post war planning was okay, not great, but okay?

Really, Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Department could not have done a worse job if they had set out to do one as an objective. There was literally ZERO post war planning, compared to the actual invasion that took place. The looting of the civil infrastructure after our invasion, including the pilfering of museums was a tip-off as to how undermanned, and under planned we really were.

Myth 3 � If only we "Stayed the Course" as the President is fond of saying, it will work out in the end.

There's a line that goes, "If you always do, what you always did, you'll always get, what you always got." In life, if something isn't working, YOU CHANGE IT. You do something else. You do not just keep doing what you were doing. This President is stubborn without being wise. Perhaps more than anyone else in the history of the modern Presidency, he shows a reluctance to learn from his mistakes, and total lack of desire to inquire as to alternative options. He's LOCKED into a thinking that just doesn't work. He has never allowed the decision making process to be VETTED by opposing thinkers. In this behavior, he is unique, and foolish.

Myth 4 � Iraq will become Democratic in time.

Sure, and I believe in the tooth fairy. This is not the American Revolution, a unique era with a unique group of the best read, self-educated men in history. Unrivaled in courage, our founders had the desire to stand against England, and form a Republic for which it stands. President Bush is right, when he says; I haven't seen Thomas Jefferson in Iraq yet. Jefferson doesn't exist in Iraq, and perhaps never will.

Myth 5 � Our situation in Iraq has made our position stronger in the world?

Really, do you really want to argue this one? Iraq had the 4th or 5th largest standing army in the world. We demonstrated that we could take it apart, and destroy it in 29 days. This was a valuable lesson for the world to learn. In the aftermath, we demonstrated that we could not govern. We could not influence events. Our influence frankly just broke down, and we did it in the face of the world, while everybody was watching.

Our enemies and our friends recognize that we do not have the capacity to back up our rhetoric with military action anywhere else in the world, while we are bogged down in Iraq. Placing 140,000 troops currently in Iraq has made us incapable of operating anywhere else.

If North Korea were to create a provocative act TODAY, what would we do? If Iran were to send troops into the Iraqi desert, or better yet to Saudi Arabia, or Kuwait, what would we do? We no longer have a draft. The military is having major problems fulfilling their current manpower requirements. Has anybody noticed the disproportionate number of officers at the lieutenant level and above that are dying in Iraq. Last week, 3 lieutenant colonels were killed in action. This is unheard of in previous wars. It is because they are dying from roadside bombs that can strike anyone within a specified distance.

Myth 6 � Those roadside bombs are made locally in terrorist hideouts in Iraq.

Those bombs are being manufactured in Iran, and transported across the border with Syria's help, and we are doing NOTHING ABOUT IT. These are not simple devices. They are technologically sophisticated. They required advanced machinery, and skill to produce. This expertise is not available in Iraq. These are shaped charges, and they are adjusting to the changes that the United States is making on the battlefield. Only Iran can produce such technology in that area. The United States has never held Iran accountable for its actions, or even mentioned it on the world stage. What is going on here?

Myth 7 � The military was in agreement with Rumsfeld's policies or they would have protested?

Do you think so, do you really honestly think so? Very few generals have what it takes to blow away a career by protesting about decisions being made by superiors. What we are seeing is what many of us thought we'd never see again � the Viet Nam syndrome coming back to haunt us. During Viet Nam hundreds of officers knew our conduct of the war wasn't working. They kept their mouths shut, and said that some day when they had the power they would never allow this to happen again.

Here we are 30 years later, and you guessed it. The young officers who made those statements are now leading the armed forces of the United States, and they are just as quiet as their superiors were during the Viet Nam war. Every one of these officers knows that we went into Iraq on the cheap, in terms of our manpower. Oh yes, we had enough to destroy the Iraqi army, but certainly not enough to secure the peace.

Colin Powell who knows a thing or two about waging war felt 300,000 plus troops were needed. Powell was smart enough to get out of government before it hit the fan. So what do we do now? We declare victory in the field, and also declare an inability to build a democracy for a people where democracy is everybody's second choice. We then must concentrate on terminating Bin Laden, and being a responsible superpower.

Richard Stoyeck



(sources from Internet)

Democrats Will Not Win House, Republicans Will Lose It

Tomorrow is Election Day in the United States. Every member of the House of Representatives is up for re-election, and one third of the United States Senate. It is difficult living in the greatest democracy in 12,000 years of civilization, and not after a while grow use to the freedoms that our ancestors gave their lives for.

The Constitution and Declaration of Independence could only have been created by a specific generation in the 18th century, the time known historically as the "Age of Reason". These men, and they were men, knew more about the history of ancient Rome and Greece than we do. They had studied and read Plato, and Aristotle. They met in groups and talked and educated one another.

I dare say that today in a country of 300,000,000 Americans, we could not replicate the brilliance of the individuals, and their youth that met long ago and formed our government. It is truly one of the miracles of history, and this grand experiment has evolved and lasted for more than 200 years. It has survived the Civil War, a conflagration that consumed more lives than all other wars combined that the United States has been in since. We survived the Great Depression, thanks to the leadership of Franklin Roosevelt. Viet Nam and Watergate ripped the social fabric of this country apart, and we survived it.

Now tomorrow November 7, 2006 is our first opportunity to pass judgment as voters on the Republican's handling of the Iraq war, and indirectly terrorism. President Bush is not up for election, and this means that people must vote indirectly on his policies. This vote will be communicated through the House of Representatives. I believe that people will not be voting for the Democrats tomorrow. I believe they will be voting AGAINST Republicans.

The momentum or perhaps anger against the President's policies is so strong that the House of Representatives will switch hands, and with it will go the power to slow down the President's momentum, and perhaps reverse many of his policies. Of course, we have the benefit of hindsight in looking at how our country has been guided over the last several years, but let's revisit some of what has gone on, and decide the merits of the President's actions.

IRAQ
We know now that the basis for the war was without merit. The underlying assumptions that Saddam was manufacturing Weapons of Mass Destruction, and perhaps would have used them to create great calamity for others was FALSE. Nevertheless we must now deal with the aftermath of the invasion. Iraq can not turn out well for us at this point. Regardless of what happens from this day forward, it will not be a friendly end for our involvement, just as Viet Nam did not end well. When you open Pandora's Box, you do not know what will come out. Politically Pandora's box is the equivalent of the "Law of unintended consequences." We are paying a price for opening the box, America with its treasure, and energy, and more importantly our soldiers with their lives, and limbs.

We did not arm our soldiers well, many pay for their own body armor, and are cannibalizing steel off of other vehicles to reinforce the steel of the vehicles they drive. This happens in a country as rich as ours. The President wages war but sought no sacrifice from the American people. Instead he expands the National Debt to finance the war, and puts the burden on our unborn children to pay for. Simultaneously he created tax cuts for the Rich, which I approve of, but not in a time of deficit. You don't borrow money from Japan, China, and the Europeans, and then give it to the rich via tax cuts, once again leaving the burden to the young in this country. That's just plain WRONG.

Eavesdropping and the Bill of Rights

The President chose to circumvent the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by having the National Security Agency (NSA) create a huge funnel whereby conversations of ordinary citizens in the United States were monitored in the name of Anti Terrorism. Thirty year employees of the NSA reeked in horror at the notion. Every bone in their bodies told them it was wrong. All the President had to do was appoint Federal Judges to the NSA to approve and monitor the program. There are similar judges who sit in the FBI offices full time for over a decade now who routinely approve Federal wiretap orders.

The President has put himself above the law in this case. He knew he was secure with a Republican majority in both houses of Congress who would protect him in ways that Richard Nixon was not protected. Nixon would never have been driven from office if he had posssessed a Republican majority.

What about Congress itself?

I have been a student of Congress since Lyndon Johnson was President in 1963. For many decades I actively worked to create a Republican majority in both branches of the Congress. My background includes being a Barry Goldwater Republican. I have seen the filthy, back room, money changing aspects of politics all my life, and it has been on both sides of the aisles. What I see now that is unique is in your face corruption. The waste use to amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.

The waste is now billions of dollars, even tens of billions of dollars. There was a time as they say when the MERE APPEARANCE of IMPROPRIETY would be enough to drive an elected official from office. Now the appearance doesn't mean anything anymore. You have Senators and Congressmen on both sides flying around in private corporate aircraft. As a result they have debts to the owners of those planes that must be paid for with favorable votes on bills. These bills cost the American taxpayer billions of extra, and unnecessary dollars.

An example is the Drug Bill for Senior Citizens where by the law specifically states that the federal government can not enter into negotiations with the drug companies to demand, and FORCE lower prices. Wow, you talk about giving away $25 to $50 billion extra dollars per year. Frankly, I don't think the Republican members of Congress got enough from these drug companies. The drug companies gave the Republicans $12 million in contributions, and got back tens of billions in the laws that were passed. If you are going to be corrupt, you ought to get paid more than that.

I believe that Tuesday, Election Day there will be a momentum tide that will sweep out the Republican majority in the House, and come close to taking the Senate. With this act, the American people will put the Congress and the President on notice that these types of actions will not stand. We may go back to gridlock, but for this writer, gridlock is a pleasure compared to our experiences of the last few years.

Goodbye and Good Luck

Richard Stoyeck

(sources from Internet)