In five days, sixteen US troops have been killed in Iraq. Almost 300 Iraqis have died since the beginning of December.
Meanwhile, politicos and pundits debate the escalating sectarian violence in Iraq, the verge, brink, and sliding into civil war, disputes that accomplish nothing to support our troops by bringing them home now, disputes that accomplish nothing to stop the deaths of Iraqis.
George W. Bush is unhappy with the progress of his war. This unhappiness has nothing to do with the deaths of our servicemen and women or with the Iraqis whose lives and culture he’s destroyed. Nor is he concerned with the injured. If Bush is suffering a twinge of discomfort, it is because his presidency has been judged a colossal failure.
Yes, Bush is unhappy. Unhappy. This adjective doesn’t begin to describe those of us who have lost someone in this illegal war. This adjective doesn’t begin to describe those whose loved ones have been disfigured during the occupation of Iraq. This adjective doesn’t touch the pain of those who will suffer for the rest of their lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The families of servicemen and women who have sacrificed for Bush’s lies are so much more than unhappy. Our existence is now defined by war.
The masses voted in November to pronounce George Bush a failure. Yesterday’s resignation of John Bolton is another “F” for the president. Tragically Bush remains steadfast in his policy to stay the course in Iraq. He wants to pass the baton of failure to the next president.
And just as writers, anchors, and talking heads are debating the violence in Iraq and what to call it, they are also questioning whether Bush is delusional. It doesn’t matter. He is still in charge and people are dying.
George Bush’s existence is defined by failure but he is still at the helm. And that’s a failure for all of us.
Missy Beattie lives in New York City. She’s written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. An outspoken critic of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq, she’s a member of Gold Star Families for Peace. She completed a novel last year, but since the death of her nephew, Marine Lance Cpl. Chase J. Comley, in Iraq on August 6,’05, she has been writing political articles. She can be reached at: Missybeat@aol.com
