Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

In a short time Bush addressed Congress, warning of the dire dangers awaiting the U.S. in his unforgettable State of the Union Message.  Bush explained it all vividly.  Bush stated that we definitely knew that Yellow Cake uranium was being used in Iraq to process nuclear weapons.  

The four words "weapons of mass destruction" were the haunting words that Bush claimed Iraq could use against the U.S.  This declaration propelled the nation to go to war against Iraq.  Can anyone forget the standing ovation Bush received after this State of the Union revelation?

It did not take long for Bush's British buddy Blair to paraphrase an old George M. Cohan song hit, "Just 45 Minutes from Broadway."

Blair's war spin buildup was just 45 minutes was all that stood between Britain and potential destruction from Saddam's missiles.

The Iraq War, some Administration officials decided, needed a catchy title.  The winning title was "shock and awe".

Indeed, the entire world was shocked by all those so-called "smart bombs" killing civilians while attempting to kill Saddam Hussein.  The civilized world watched U.S. bombers demolish Iraq's infrastructure, killing innocent men, women, and children.

The world watched as bedlam broke loose when Iraq's police force was dismissed.  Stores were broken into and civilians robbed businesses brazenly, racing down Baghdad streets with the loot.

This was when the inimitable Donald Rumsfeld made his infamous press conference statement that the looting was part of a transition to "democracy".  Others saw it as a first step on the road to conflict, chaos, and anarchy.  They were correct.

When Saddam wasn't found at first, knocking down his huge statute served as a temporary substitute.  The statue was representative of Saddam's gigantic ego, and was demolished in concert with world media coverage.

Eventually, the futile "smart bombs" attempts to kill Saddam, having failed, they located him, not in one of his splendorous palaces, but in a hole in the ground.

Having succeeded in killing some of the strong man circle surrounding Saddam and his two sons, victory seemed near at hand.  Pulling Saddam, unshaven and disheveled, out of his underground hiding place, they placed him in prison promptly.

It is strange that the old cliché "strange bedfellows" fits Saddam and Rumsfeld to a T.  TV footage and stills of Saddam grinning broadly, shaking hands with Rumsfeld when the U.S. delivered weapons, were intended to assist Saddam in the Iraq-Iran War.

Could it be that Iranians vividly remember all the deaths resulting from those weapons that the U.S. sent to Iraq?  Could that be a reason for Iran being wary now of alleged U.S. Middle East neutrality and intentions?

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned in the media the U.S.'s stated goal for being in Iraq - to bring freedom and democracy.

Could it be that the demolition of Iraq's infrastructure and the latest Johns Hopkins estimate of some 655,000 Iraqis dead is propelling an estimated 40 nations to be racing to get nuclear power to protect themselves from one of those so-called pre-emptive U.S. war strikes?

George Bush felt a moment of triumph at one point in the Iraq War quagmire.  He decided to don a flight uniform and be flown out to a waiting naval cruiser near San Diego Harbor, to dramatically declare "Mission Accomplished".

With the U.S. service personnel's death toll skyrocketing, and the tragedy of the 15,000 injured coming back to their families minus arms and legs and post-war stress, the nation is demanding answers to what the Iraq War has achieved.

What precisely has been accomplished in the Iraq War?  The cost of the war has now passed the staggering $350 billion mark and continues to soar.  Freedom and democracy have not been achieved.  Instead a sectarian war has emerged.  No amount of public relations can alter that fateful fact.

Those who got the U.S. into Iraq must be held accountable for what they have done.  The United States lost much credibility in the Vietnam War.  But American leaders finally came to their senses and pulled out.  It was a tragic war.  What was actually achieved?

One would hope a lesson was learned in Vietnam, but obviously it wasn't where the likes of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld are concerned.  Now when we hear "we must be victorious" and "we must not cut and run" we think of Vietnam.  These are the echoes from the tragic Vietnam conflict.  

Tragedy will continue until wiser ways to conduct this war tragedy are presented.  Colin Powell is one of the prominent Bush Administration figures I know of who has recognized the truth, the reality of this horrifying mistaken war venture.  

Powell has said that his contribution of getting the war machine going by reading those forged documents at the UN will live with him forever.  It takes integrity and truthfulness to admit a mistake.

This Republican Administration's corruption record is another tragedy on the home front.  That is why some media political spokespersons are calling for a clean sweep of those responsible for the Iraq War and the skyrocketing death toll.  They hope a fresh start with a dedicated ethical Congress can change the tragic course that the U.S. is on now.

On NBC's Eleven O'Clock News the President of Iraq said bluntly, "The presence of the coalition forces contributes to the violence in Iraq."

This war in Iraq had made the United States more vulnerable to terrorism.  The Sunday, October 22 BBC News revealed that Alberto Fernandez, a senior U.S. State Department official, made a biting remark during an interview with Arabic television station Al Jazeera called the "U.S. arrogant and stupid in Iraq."

This observation is redundant, but significant because it comes from a U.S. State Department source.  The entire world has known this for a long time.  Finally American voters are rising up in indignation for what this Republican Administration has been doing domestically and, above all, in its tragic conduct of foreign affairs in Iraq.