Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

But the death toll of Vietnam, the admission of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara that Vietnam could not be won over to American style rule, had no impact on the narrow-minded, ignorant individuals who still declare that we could have won this unneeded war if we only had continued fighting and shown perseverance.  

Then came the unneeded Gulf War with the elder Bush.  Saddam Hussein was outraged that Kuwait was slant drilling to steal Iraq's oil.  

Before Bush invaded Kuwait, U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie told Saddam that his quarrel with his neighbor was an Arab-Arab problem and that America would not interfere in it.

This big lie propelled Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait.  This action triggered the elder Bush to launch war against Iraq with a coalition of countries hastily gathered.  

The elder Bush was so eager to rush into this war that he refused to wait for Russia to attempt negotiations with Saddam to settle the Kuwait problem without war.

The exact number of Iraqis killed has never been revealed.  It took only a few days to end this invasion into Kuwait and send Saddam's troops back to Iraq.  The elder Bush seemed to consider himself a triumphant winner of this unneeded war, proclaiming, "We whipped the Vietnam syndrome!"  

No doubt this earlier war occurring in his father's administration motivated the younger Bush to rush into Iraq.  The younger Bush's presidency was interrupted on September 11, 2001 when the planes hit the World Trade Center.  

Instantly, Bush and his White House crew linked the World Trade Center and its tragedy of some 3,000 deaths to Saddam Hussein.  

Suddenly in his State of the Union Message Bush dramatically declared that the U.S. had proof that Saddam was developing nuclear power that threatened the U.S. For good measure, Bush added that we had proof that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.  

Now that the shocking war cry was sounded, the Republican robot Congress literally leaped to its collective feet, giving Bush a standing ovation.

As if this wasn't enough, the administration supplied Secretary of State Colin Powell with false documents designed to substantiate Bush's declaration.  He dramatically presented this series of untruths to the United Nations in a speech lauded by Fox News and other right wing propaganda sources.

Soon the "shock and awe" war commenced as so-called "smart bombs" were designed to hit precise non-civilian targets according to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.  The bombs killed many civilians, but not to worry, those frightful weapons of mass destruction must be found to save U.S. lives.

When it was discovered that the weapons of mass destruction fright scenario was a hoax, not to worry, we found Saddam hiding in a hole and George Bush acquired his personal gun, which he ultimately framed as a souvenir along with a reputed 4,000 other artifacts for his magnificent museum.

Saddam had to be given a hasty trial and quickly disposed of for a very good reason.  A French lawyer pressed for a real trial rather than a kangaroo style quickie, stating his desire to interrogate Donald Rumsfeld and others on the long term U.S. relationship with Saddam Hussein.  

Naturally that lawyer never got his way.  The powers that be in the Bush administration were not about to let that happen.

The U.S. has built its largest embassy in the world in Iraq, providing an obvious clue as to how long it plans to stay in a nation sitting on a third of the world's oil supply.

The British medical journal Lancet has concluded after careful investigation that over 1.3 million Iraqis have been killed as a result of the U.S. action, while 2.5 million have fled to Iran, Syria, Jordan, and the United States.

Around 5,000 U.S. service personnel were killed in the Iraq War with another 55,000 wounded.  All this occurred in an unneeded war, but not to worry, so far neither George Bush nor Dick Cheney have been tried for their war crimes.

Afghanistan had the Taliban placed in power and given the U.S. latest high tech weapons.  But the Bush administration wanted to remove the Taliban and U.S. forces are fighting the high tech weapons supplied by the U.S. under Ronald Reagan.  

As if Iraq and Afghanistan were not enough to cope with, Pakistan is aflame with what amounts to a civil war and U.S. troops are caught between competing forces.

With all this war expense, plunging the U.S. into the worst deficit in its history, a debt larger than all prior debts combined, the entire economic system is collapsing.  Over 100 banks in the U.S. have collapsed so far this year.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that Bill Clinton signed sent our entire manufacturing base to other nations.  

With 34.5 million on food stamps, 15 million unemployed, and a couple of $700 plus billion stimulus packages that are not providing many jobs, bankers who got bailed out borrowed money from taxpayers that had no caps on salary bonuses.  

As Bank of America struggles for its very survival, its CEO Ken Lewis is retiring December 31 with $70 million.  B of A stock has fallen 50 percent.

When will this legalized theft end?