He doesn’t want deadlines for withdrawal because that will tell the enemy what America’s plans are. But if U.S. soldiers aren’t going to leave by 2008, when are they going to get out? The obvious implication here is this: The president expects them to stay in Iraq for a very long time to come. The only way he can see to justify the losses so far is to keep fighting.
In April alone, the war took 100 American lives and cost about $9 billion. Yesterday, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction reported on one little corner of the war effort – but it’s a little corner that seems emblematic of the whole enterprise. His inspectors looked at eight completed construction projects, paid for by the U.S. – not a representative sample, because most projects are in areas that are too dangerous to visit, but just eight projects that could be assessed. They found that seven were structural failures.
This is what Americans are getting for their blood and treasure. Failure, failure, success, failure, failure, failure, failure, failure. In the four years since President Bush put on that Navy flight suit and headed out on his mission before the cameras, his administration has accomplished almost nothing in Iraq, and now argues that that is the very reason U.S. soldiers and Marines must stay there and keep fighting and dying.
The Record of Hackensack makes similar points in its editorial:
The fourth anniversary of the “mission accomplished” speech is a grim reminder of thousands of lives needlessly lost. Unless Bush shifts course, the nation will be mired in Iraq for the fifth anniversary as well.
The mission that needs to be accomplished is to bring the troops home.
Yes. “Bring ‘Em Home,” as The Boss sings on this Pete Seeger tune. Bring ’em home.
Hank Kalet 