In 2002, Karl Rove told Republican
candidates to “run on the war.” Twenty-thousand corpses
later, Rove's strategy has proven successful. Bush leads in
the polls. Still, it's a cynical, heartless and dishonest
strategy.
I'm writing this hours before the first
Bush-Kerry debate, so you know better than I whether Bush
repeated his famous slogans about Iraq: “Stay the Course”
and “We're turning the corner” and “Democracy is on the
march.” If he did, there's new evidence he's lying and he
knows it. Here's why I say that:
On Sunday, Sept. 26, I watched talking heads
on “Washington Week In Review” and “Washington Round
Table” discuss a column by Robert Novak in the “Chicago
Sun-Times” in which he wrote that key Bush policy makers
want to pull out of Iraq next year.
Now, Novak is a scoundrel in my book. It was
he who made the treasonous announcement that Valerie Plame is
a spy. When it comes to what Bush insiders are saying,
however, he's been a reliable scoundrel. There's no reason to
believe he's lying about Bush's true intentions in Iraq. The
following is from Novak's online version of a column at the
Sun-Times site dated Sept. 20:
“Inside the Bush administration
policymaking apparatus, there is strong feeling that U.S.
troops must leave iraq next year. (my italics) This
determination is not predicated on success in implanting Iraqi
democracy and internal stability. Rather, the officials are
saying: Ready or not, here we go.” He goes on to say,
“Well-placed sources in the administration are confident
Bush's decision will be to get out. They believe that is the
recommendation of his national security team and would be the
recommendation of second-term officials. According to my
sources,” writes Novak, “All would opt for a withdrawal.”
(my italics).
This should've been headline news
everywhere. (So much for a liberal media). If Novak got it
right, it means our troops are dying in Iraq today for
campaign lies. If untrue, it makes you wonder what Novak
and/or his well-placed sources are up to. Could be he's trying
to muddy the waters in order to attract voters like me, who
think invading Iraq was a horrible mistake.
If so, it won't work. From where I stand, a
vote for Bush is a vote for new nuclear weapons, death to
songbirds?and ancient forests. It's a vote for dirtier water
and air. It's a vote for human savagery--prison abuse, bombing
Muslim cities and more. It's also a vote for continued deceit
on a very large scale. From lies about the cost of
prescription drugs to the quality of the air at Ground Zero
after 9-11. From lies about tax relief to who's writing our
energy policy. It's a vote for sending billions to China and
Japan to pay for our federal deficits as far as the eye can
see.
Still, this election, by any rational
analysis, should mostly be a referendum on Bush's handling of
the war. Think back two years, to when the Bush-ites were
telling us:
* It would be over in weeks
* They'd throw flowers at our feet,
* Their oil would pay for it,
* We'd find tons of chemical weapons and
missiles and an active nuclear program.
* We know where the weapons are.
* We'd install a democracy and change the
Middle East.
* We'd bring in Osama dead or alive.
None of that has happened and a broad range
of intelligence says it won't happen.
Ask yourself, had you been able to foresee,
two years later…
* 20,000 dead Iraqis, more than half of them
civilians.
* 1,200 dead Americans, counting civilians.
* 25,000 wounded, maimed or emotionally
scarred Americans.
* The loss of $200 billion in tax dollars
with no end in sight.
* The CIA, FBI and military intelligence
organs telling us in July that Iraq could be headed for Civil
War and that the status quo is the best we can hope for over
the next five years.…
* The war was based on lies or faulty
intelligence.
* Saddam had nothing to do with 9-11.
* American prestige is at an all time low
around the world.
Had you known all that ahead of time, would
you still have been for the bombing, invasion and occupation
of Iraq? I wonder, would you support Bush if he trumped up a
case and invaded Mexico? Canada? Robbed a bank? Are you
constitutionally incapable of criticizing a Republican? Give
me a clue.
----------------------------------------
Don Williams is a prize-winning columnist
for The Knoxville News-Sentinel, as well as a freelance
journalist, short story writer and the founding editor and
publisher of New Millennium Writings, an annual
anthology of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. His writing
awards include a National Endowment for the Humanities
Michigan Journalism Fellowship, a Golden Presscard Award and
Malcolm Law Journalism Prize. He is finishing a novel, ORACLE
OF THE ORCHID LOUNGE, set in his native Tennessee. His book of
selected journalism, Heroes, Sheroes and Zeroes, the Best
Writings About People by Don Williams, is now available
for pre-ordering. For more information, you may email him at
donwilliams7@charter.net.
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