The Founding Fathers fought a war to free our nation from British rule. Once that was accomplished, it was their desire to live in peace with the other nations of the world. They left little doubt about how the United States should conduct itself toward other nations:
• “Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations—entangling alliances with none, I deem [one of] the essential principles of our government, and consequently [one of] those which ought to shape its administration.” --Thomas Jefferson, first Inaugural address, 1801
• “America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.” --John Quincy Adams
• “I hope...that mankind will at length, as they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats; for in my opinion there never was a good war, or a bad peace.” --Benjamin Franklin
• “[Peace] is the only legitimate object of government and the first duty of governors, and not the slaughter of men and devastation of the countries placed under their care in pursuit of a fantastic honor unallied to virtue or happiness; or in gratification of the angry passions or the pride of administrators excited by personal incidents in which their citizens have no concern.” --Thomas Jefferson
Over the years, America has often failed to measure up to these lofty ideals, but it would be hard to imagine a time when it has failed as miserably as during the Bush Presidency. George W. Bush doesn’t even seem to know the meaning of the word--peace.
• “I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.” --George W. Bush, 6/18/02
Bush was hoping for war, even before the 2000 election:
• “One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as commander in chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency.” --Governor George W. Bush (1999), quoted by Mickey Herskowitz, ghost-writer of Bush’s autobiography, in an interview with investigative reporter Russ Baker, 10/27/04
This statement alone should have disqualified Bush from ever being President. What kind of president comes into office, looking for a “chance to invade”? Evidently, the Bush kind:
• “Former secretary of the treasury Paul O’Neill revealed in a new book that President George W. Bush was already looking for an excuse to invade Iraq during the first few weeks of his presidency. ‘It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it…The president saying ‘Go find me a way to do this.’” --CBS News, 1/10/04
In the “Downing Street Memos” (from a 7/23/02 meeting), British Intelligence Chief Richard Dearlove reported that the Bush Administration was set on attacking Iraq and “the intelligence and the facts were being fixed around the policy.” (Sunday Times, 5/1/05)
…and recent revelations make it clear that the BA knew that Iraq did not have WMDs.
• “The CIA had evidence Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction six months before the 2003 US-led invasion but was ignored by a White House intent on ousting Saddam Hussein.” --according to former senior CIA Tyler Drumheller, head of CIA covert operations in Europe during the run-up to the Iraq War, The Sydney Morning Herald, 4/22/06
• “Four years later, there can be no doubt that Bush/Cheney/Rove and the Republican cabal lied us into invading Iraq. Ginning it up just before the 2002 midterm elections… so Republicans could take back the Senate in 2002... The 2003 attack was timed, we now can see, so Bush would improve his chances to win the White House in the election of 2004. …[I]t appears that Bush is now ginning up a new war just in time for the 2006 midterm elections, and Karl Rove probably has a 2007 continuing war in mind to help swing the 2008 elections (or postpone them).” -- Thom Hartmann, CommonDreams.org, 4/27/06
What could be more contemptible than a leader who lies his nation into war to gain “political capital”? What kind of hypocrite pretends to seek peace, after the decision for war has been made? What has George W. Bush ever done to foster peace and cooperation among nations?
Mick Youther is an American citizen, an independent voter, a veteran, a parent, a Christian, a scientist, a writer, and all-around nice guy who has been aroused from a comfortable apathy by the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration.
