Columnist Jamala Rogers
It’s a war thang, and the rest of us just don’t understand.
Remember those slang slogans which originated back in the day? Like “It’s a black thang, you just wouldn’t understand” or “It’s a Jeep thing, you just don’t understand”? The slogans suggest that a particular group had some shared insider knowledge or experience that outsiders couldn’t appreciate or identify with.
Enter Bush’s Iraqi war. Really, nobody seems to want it but Bush.
Bush has ignored the very group he commissioned to give him recommendations on the war. The Baker Report was quickly deep-sixed. Generals Casey and Abizaid got the boot (pun intended) because of their opposition to the latest plan to increase troops. They join a host of other military brass who are NOT playing in Bush’s band.
In spite of Bush’s military strategy being the single reason Republicans lost in the November election, in spite of eroding support from his conservative base, in spite of polls that say 80 percent of U.S. citizens oppose continued involvement in Iraq, in spite of 3,000 US troops losing their lives on Iraqi soil (more than were killed in the September 11 attacks), in spite of an estimated 25,000 U.S. troops being maimed or wounded, in spite of the billions of dollars that will be needed to take care of the emotional and physical injuries of war veterans, in spite of an estimated 60,000 Iraqi civilians being killed, in spite of $400 billion already being spent and $8 billion being spent monthly, in spite of the false pretense for going to war and the continuing bungled military decisions, in spite of the fact that terrorism has increased in the world since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in spite of the growing sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites fueled by U.S. policy, in spite of no proposed military or political strategy that would guarantee “victory,” in spite of the inability of the Iraqi government to deal with its own safety and security, in spite of two botched executions, in spite of a host of other reality checks, Bush continues to be relentless in “staying the course,” urging a surge.
And while Bush’s total disregard for reality provides unlimited fodder for jokes on late-night shows, it should have U.S. citizens seriously questioning his mental capacity. Not only is Bush putting the country in the crosshairs of terrorism, he is putting our future financial security in hock.
History documented the clinical depression of President Abraham Lincoln and the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease with President Ronald Reagan as reasons for some of their inexplicable decisions and actions. I’m no psychiatrist, but the man in the White House has some cracks in the head and it’s not funny.
I suggest that the advisors whom he still respects suggest some psychological testing. He may want to claim insanity on his way to impeachment hearings or to the International Criminal Court.