Four More Years?

I remember so well that time in October, 2002 listening to the impassioned floor speeches about Saddam Hussein’s WMDs and the threat a “nuclear Iraq” posed to the world. I sat there glued to the television, thinking surely the Democrats will not allow this to happen; surely they will not vote to allow this administration to invade a country that had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks of 9-11; a country that has been living under economic sanctions; living under constant unfettered bombardment from US and UK warplanes since 1991. For me, the “shock and awe” occurred during those votes when so few stood up to say “No!” The US invasion and occupation of Iraq had begun with a bipartisan vote that simply said, “We, the Congress of the United States of America, hereby cede to George W. Bush the Constitutional authority granted solely to this body to declare war and invade the sovereign and undefended nation of Iraq.” In the four years since March 19, 2003; though there has been much hand-wringing, there has been no real effort made to “put the genie back in the bottle.”

While so many of us believed that Bush was lying us into Iraq from the very start, over the years the facts to support what we believed have been steadily streaming out. While some will say (and I have already acknowledged Democratic complicity above) that “everyone believed Saddam had weapons of mass destruction”, according to former CIA operatives (some of whom actually retired just so they could speak out) the actual intelligence reports furnished to the Bush administration contained numerous caveats and disclaimers – enough, they argue, to deny any “absolute knowledge” as was claimed by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and especially Colin Powell in his infamous testimony before the UN. Yet it was this “absolute knowledge” that was constantly displayed before the American people and even certain members of Congress who did not posses the clearance necessary to read the full reports for themselves. Of course, the ultimate proof was revealed AFTER the invasion when none of the claims of this administration were borne out. Yet we stayed.

Listening to George W. Bush talk about Iraq over the years has been somewhat akin to what a parent might hear from their child who wishes to stay longer at the arcade and put more quarters into the video game until he wins. Upon entering the arcade, George declares that “We shall prevail.” Things look pretty good at first; racking up high scores as the Iraqis offer almost no resistance and our tanks roll straight in to Baghdad. As a matter of fact, it takes almost no time for George to achieve the “high score” as we watched that statue of Saddam fall over and over again on our TVs. He quickly announces “Mission Accomplished!” As a matter of fact it takes some time for close observers to notice that George is the first person to play this particular machine; to notice that we had invaded a country that had been all but decimated by economic sanctions and fiscal mismanagement by Saddam Hussein, that we had essentially invaded a third world country with no visible means of defense. Of course this “success” did not come without spending a few quarters and Mom and Dad, rather than tell George to “quit while he’s ahead and come home” dig into their pockets and give him as many quarters as he asks for. We stay.

The thing about video games, as most players will tell you, is that you cannot WIN. Even achieving the “high score” still only leads you to yet another, more difficult level. And, as most gamblers will tell you, once you achieve early success, you will spend everything you have to keep playing. Such is the case with Iraq. The early goals of “disarming Iraq”, “freeing the Iraqi people” and “creating a democratic government in Iraq” were all met very early on. There were no weapons, Saddam was toppled, and the Iraqis have marched to the polls no less than three times to elect a representative government; all within the first year after the invasion. Still George says, “I want to keep playing. Just give me more quarters.” Even though George’s scores keep falling (attacks on Americans and Iraqis continue to rise) and Mom and Dad are beginning to reach into the grocery money to provide more quarters (the costs for the continuing occupation rise into the hundreds of billions) George is not to be denied. He says, “We are winning.” We stay – We stay.

Four years into this mis-adventure, Mom is finally starting to say, “George, it is time to start thinking about coming home.” What does George say, “But, I can still win.” “You just keep trying to stop me from winning.” “You have to let me win.” Even though, in four years, Mom and Dad have not denied George anything he has desired. In fact, George W. Bush has had uncontrolled, unchallenged, unrestricted power to wage the war in Iraq in any way he has seen fit. Not one monetary request has been denied (in fact the have been INCREASED). Not one challenge to troop numbers has been issued. Congress (Mom and Dad) has done every thing every time George has asked. Watching the scores begin to spiral downward; 3200 dead American troops, 650,000 dead Iraqis, George now says, “…but I’m pretty sure I can still win.” What do Mom and Dad say? Well Dad says, “OK George, anything you want.” And Mom? Well Mom says, “OK George, you can have one more pocket-full of quarters but we really want you to start thinking about coming home.” We Stay – We Stay – We Stay.

(Photo - Dina Johnson)

Peace (Someday),
Chad (The Left) Shue