Article: Lame, Dangerous Duck

Here we are, passing the midpoint of November and 44 US troops have been killed in Iraq this month. In 16 days, almost 800 dead Iraqis have come through the morgues.

George Bush has been judged a failed president, but he is at the controls and that means we are in peril. A lame duck can still stand and stay the course.

When Bush eulogized his secretary of defense the day after the midterm elections, he said, "America is safer and the world more secure because of the service and leadership of Donald Rumsfeld." In Bush's radio address on November 11, he was further delusional: "History will record that on Secretary Rumsfeld's watch, the men and women of our military overthrew two terrorist regimes...." The National Intelligence Estimate concluded otherwise. In fact, the report revealed that the invasion of Iraq has inspired a new generation of terrorists.

Bush is a president who rewrites history, linking Iraq with 9/11 and Saddam Hussein with WMD, while chastising the public about questioning the veracity of these connections. This is a president who on Wednesday, November 8th, after his stunning repudiation by the electorate, attempted humor that collapsed, was petulant and defensive, and, finally, conciliatory. The conciliation was short-lived for Bush is now trying to pass his illegal wiretapping bill while Congress is controlled by Republicans. This is a president who talks about sowing the seeds of democracy throughout the world but who is destroying it here at home. This is a president who talks sanctity of life but who has betrayed almost 3,000 troops, sending them home in transfer tubes and who is, also, responsible for the deaths of, perhaps, as many as 650,000 Iraqis.

Now is not the time to retreat and rely on the Democrats to deliver us from evil. We must work even harder in pressing for the initiation of impeachment proceedings against George Bush and Dick Cheney. And we cannot stop there. We have a responsibility to show the world that we hold our leaders accountable for abuses of power resulting in unimaginable suffering. All in the Bush Administration who perverted intelligence to take us to war must be charged with war crimes. We can demand nothing less.

Our goal is justice and endless peace.