On the Iraq War

"I remember a sign from the Old West, that said: "Wanted...Dead or Alive."

-President George Walker Bush, on Osama bin Laden

"I don't know where he is. I just...haven't spent that much time on it."

-President George Walker Bush, on Osama bin Laden

The Iraq War should have never happened: we should have stayed in Afghanistan, hunting down our true enemy, Osama bin Laden, to the death; we should have sealed the mountains of Tora Bora; we shouldn't have left what we started to begin with; we should have actually defended our country against an imminent threat.

I've read the papers, I've read the documents, I've read the Iraq Study Group report, I've done my research: this War wasn't necessary. Neither war was necessary; this President could have read the Presidential Daily Briefing that said "al-Qaida Planning to Attack Major American Landmarks" instead of My Pet Goat.

I saw the Twin Towers fall, as did my father and the rest of my family. My uncle worked at the WTC; he survived, while a few of his co-workers in that North Tower Blue Cross/Blue Shield office didn't. And we fought a meaningless war, a preemptive strike, against the country of Iraq.

It all began with a little conspiracy circle known as the Project For a New American Century(PNAC), filled with Republican wackjobs such as Vice President Cheney, newly resigned World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Perle, and others. Their mission: to create a colonizing America, especially in the oil-laden parts of Afro-Eurasia. It just couldn't have been done without a "Pearl Harbor-like incident." Cue 9/11. That's why this is happening.

There are a few people to blame. One is Congress, for not coming to a compromise, especially after seeing young men and women come home in body bags, without prosthetics, without some brain functions, and with post-partum depression syndrome. The other is the President and his kitchen Cabinet, for insulating the President from reality as a whole, not able to see the men and women going through this time, not meeting the silver- and gold-star mothers and fathers, and not even making appearances at sites and 'think tanks,' that disagree with him. He won't even speak at the Cato Institute, which is libertarian. To think, this president is more right-wing than a libertarian.

Here's what we can do about this crisis in Iraq:

• Open up the bidding for contracting jobs in Iraq, especially to European businesses. I believe that European businesses getting into Iraq will curry favor with Europe and score points diplomatically, which can bode well in the greater fight against terror.
• Focus brigades and battalions on certain areas. Right now, troops are doing this: clearing out a city of any terrorist threats, then leaving, all for it to sprout up again. When brigades and battalions are centered in certain areas, then order can be restored on a local level, which can lead to restoration of order on the national level.
• Rewrite the Iraqi constitution, to make it democratic, and not the fascist-supporting government it is after the interim American government got to it.
• Help out the Iraqis, for once: restore a full 24-hours of electricity, water, &c; if you were going to "liberate" the Iraqis, you have to make it a better situation.
• Finally, set up timetables to leave Iraq. We can't stay forever. We mustn't stay forever. Thus, we have to set timetables for the Iraqi government so that they can finally take control of this mess.
• Redeploy troops to Afghanistan, and finish what we started.

There you go: strong, constructive ideas for what to do in Iraq. Now, where's my post as Defense Secretary?...wait, it's already been taken by Dr. Gates?...Oh well, I'm still better than Rumsfeld.

Here's a link on PNAC: http://newamericancentury.org. It's crazy, loony stuff.

Wednesday I'm off, mainly because I need a day off. Thursday: I'll be talking about Gonzo-Gate.