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War in Iraq

Staying The Course In Iraq Is Wrong
by Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence
April 12, 2004

While staying the course in Iraq is an effective campaign slogan for the Bush Republicans, it is unwise and ineffective as a foreign policy. The current approach in Iraq runs counter to history and American interests. Staying the course would make sense if we were on the right course to begin with but not under the current policy of the Bush Administration.

Critics before the invasion of Iraq predicted exactly the current situation. The nation was launched on the current course without a unified nation or world opinion behind the invasion. The Bush Administration lied repeatedly to the American people to get us into this unwise War. The Iraq War was sold to the America people based on several untruths.

The Bush Republicans claimed that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9-11 attacks. They claimed that Iraq was soon to be a nuclear threat to the United States. They claimed that the Iraq people would welcome us warmly. They claimed that Iraqi Oil would pay for the costs of the War. They claimed that Americans would benefit from cheaper gasoline and home heating oil prices soon after an Iraq Invasion. They claimed that not many American soldiers would be needed and for only a very short time. They claimed that a pro-American Iraqi democracy would soon take root. They claimed that American lives would be saved by this War. They claimed that Saddam Hussein was planning to attack East Coast cities with biological or chemical weapons in the immediate future. They claimed we had to act quickly without UN support to prevent another 9-11 style attack. These were all untrue and some were outright lies.

The current bad situation in Iraq was the inevitable result of the policy being pursued by the Bush Administration. Nobody with any knowledge about Iraqi history, Arab history or the history of Islam would have predicted that Bush was going to be successful in imposing his wishes on the Iraqi nation using American troops. The seeds of failure were already part of the policy of the Bush Administration. No account for the historical Iraqi resistance against Western Christian occupying armies was taken by the Bush Administration in designing our Iraq policies. The Bush White House seems bent on following their pre-conceived notions and ideological biases even when reality points to failure.

American sons and daughters are dying because Bush Republicans are not flexible in their views. They seek only their short-term political advantage instead of the long-term benefit of the American people. This War has only been profitable to the large oil companies and defense contractors that fund the Bush political machine. The American soldiers, the American taxpayers and the occupied Iraqi people have born all the costs. The sons and daughters of the wealthiest Americans are not dying in this War. They are instead getting huge tax cuts and “no-bid” lucrative defense contracts. For example, Haliburton has risen from 37th in terms of defense dollars received from the American taxpayers to 7th based largely on Iraq War contracts. This company was once headed by Dick Cheney and has been strongly tied to the Bush Republicans.

We need to bring our soldiers home. The costs of this War are huge and rising rapidly. There is no real likelihood of a better outcome for the American nation with a longer occupation. Bush has turned Iraq into a training ground and recruiting bonanza for the Bin Laden organization and like-minded groups. The policy is unfortunately a failure. We need to declare victory and go home. Let the Iraqis determine their own future. Saddam is out of power permanently. We will only create a growing anti-American public opinion in Arab nations by staying in Iraq. The costs of this failed policy are rising while the benefits are decreasing. It is time to bring our sons and daughters home to their families.

Written by Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence (hosts of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com ).

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Don't forget to check out articles from 2007 and 2008

War in Iraq

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