Rebuke? Lawmakers are working on the wording of a resolution to rebuke George Bush and Dick Cheney's plan to "surge" an additional 21,500 troops into Iraq? Yes, I'm incredulous. Because a rebuke is simply feeble and totally toothless. And so is a nonbinding resolution.
There are, now, almost 3,100 American reasons why a rebuke and a nonbinding resolution are slaps on the wrists to a man and the man behind the man who have cavalierly sent so many of our young to their deaths.
There are almost 50,000 non-mortal, casualty reasons why a rebuke and a nonbinding resolution are useless. Add to this the more than half a million Iraqis who have perished. Pile on the 1,000 Iraqis a day who were displaced during 2006. And factor in the two billion dollars per week we are spending to destroy so many lives.
Each day, as our lawmakers work on the wording of their pathetically effete slaps on the wrists, more deaths and maiming occur.
Meanwhile, presidential hopeful John (say-yes-to-war) McCain is burning calories as he attempts to muscle through his own resolution-a guarantee of war funding, of course.
Meanwhile, presidential hopeful Hillary (no-do-overs) Clinton is both for and against the war, voting yes for continued funding while castigating Bush for his "handling" of the occupation.
Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Estimate (remember, they already revealed the obvious-that the war in Iraq has increased terrorism) just updated their analysis to: "...an increasingly perilous situation in which the United States has little control and there is a strong possibility of further deterioration."
Rebuke? Nonbinding resolution?
Not good enough. Bush and Cheney have told us so. They will plunge forward with their escalation and, then, as more of our troops are slaughtered, they will blame Iran. They're doing this now. Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq have become WMD in Iran. The link between Saddam loyalists and troop deaths will morph into Iran and troop deaths. More and more, the ante will be upped as Bush and Cheney convince our duplicitous and complicit Mainstream Media that Iran is the new Iraq.
Forget the rebukes and the resolutions. The only way to stop George and Dick's lethal adventure is to impeach the two, indict, testify against, and find them guilty of mass murder. Let's not wait.
I repeat. There are almost 3,100 American reasons why the president and his vice should be read their rights. Each month we delay, there will be another 80 to 100 reasons. And another couple of thousand Iraqi reasons.
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.
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