The coward-in-chief dishonors those who served

The Rant
The coward-in-chief dishonors those who served
By DOUG THOMPSON
Capitol Hill Blue
May 30, 2006, 04:50

....And it is a sad, cruel irony that this coward, who used the National Guard to hide from war now, more than any other President, sends members of the Guard and Reserves into Iraq to die for his war based on lies and a pre-determined political agenda.

The evidence says Bush planned a war with Iraq even before taking the Presidency in the disputed 2000 election. He talked about the need to "eliminate Saddam Hussein" during the campaign, hinted at it during his inaugural speech and then ordered the Pentagon to prepare plans for an invasion as one of his first actions as President.

When the nation reeled from the shock and horror of the 9/11 attacks, Bush showed no surprise or shock. He finished reading a children's story to a group of elementary school kids, then climbed into Air Force One and calmly told his assembled group of staff and advisors that "OK, we're at war." Within hours, targets were identified, plans readied and invasion orders prepared.

In retrospect, it was all too convenient, too prepared, too scripted. A President who wanted desperately to go to war had his excuse and the backing of a shell-shocked Congress and numbed American population.

Over the last four-and-a-half years, however, realization has replaced shock and we see more clearly how manipulation of events led to a war that was always part of the plan.

As I watched Bush deliver his Memorial Day speech at Arlington Cemetery Monday, I saw a man without an ounce of grief or remorse. Bush delivered his speech in a cold, calculated way, using a day of honor for dishonorable purposes, exploiting a time of memoriam to further his political agenda.

The debacle of Iraq will forever define the Presidency of George W. Bush as a monumental failure. But that is a political failure. Bush's loyalty lies not with the American people but with special interests that have long owned him. Those interests - the Halliburtons, the vast corporate defense industrial cabal and the mercenaries who always profit from war - got what they wanted.

They won, but America lost, and that loss will haunt this nation for many, many years.