Give Democracy and Diplomacy a Chance
George Bush is on one of his biggest propaganda campaign tours yet after his declaration last week that he would proceed with “the surge” of troops into Iraq. He might want to consider selling it to the troops before bringing it to us:
WSJ via Crooks & Liars
A group of more than 50 active-duty military officers will deliver a petition to Congress on Tuesday signed by about 1,000 troops calling for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. “Any troop increase over here will just produce more sitting ducks, more targets,” said Sergeant Ronn Cantu, who is serving in Iraq.
The photographer who gave me permission to use his photo here had this as a comment attached to it:
I feel that we are currently in the shadow of a number of bad decisions (Iraq, Guantánamo, violations of our constitution and civil rights) but the values that underly our democracy are strong and our people do support these values, some are just scared from what they are hearing in the news. I think that we will shine through these dark days…
His comment is the optimistic view. My take is more pessimistic at the moment, colored by the shadow of fallen kids on a battlefield they didn’t choose, barred by a bull-in-a-china-shop President who doesn’t understand the meaning of diplomacy, only escalation and expansion.
Whether Iran is a threat or not, Mr. Bush needs to take a step back and consider other means to the end, including creative ones.
I do believe we will somehow survive this, but at what price?