The Casualties of War

Today our president tried to reassure us that all is going well in Iraq. Same speech — different day. They say that in war truth is the first casualty.

The trouble for Bush these days isn’t the speeches — it’s finding an audience that won’t shout back. Bush reverted to his frat boy roots at Annapolis, cracking wise with, “I’m pleased to provide a convenient excuse for you to miss class.” Hey, that’s one way to get a happy audience.

But yesterday 300 people in Denver were less than pleased. They pounded pots and pans in the streets chanting “Impeach Bush” When he showed up for a fundraiser. Even the Free Speech zones at Bush appearances won’t silence the majority who think this war is a bad, bad thing.

In his speech today Bush told us, “the enemy must be defeated on every battlefield.” He said every soldier, “deserves an unwavering commitment to the mission and a clear strategy for victory” and that “America’s will is strong.” Meanwhile the president is at his weakest since he was elected, and the more he talks about Iraq the less we believe him. Like the New Orleans citizens marooned at the Superdome, we hear the reassuring words but they sound hollow.

Last night CIA Director Porter Goss was interviewed by ABC, where he dodged questions about waterboarding — a practice of pouring water over blindfolded prisoners so they think they are drowning. This Bush appointee had the audacity to tell ABC that “torture is in the eye of the beholder.” Talk about the casualties of war! Check my logic here, but I thought torture was defined by international law and the Geneva Conventions.

While our Commander-in-Chief was talking patriotism and pride, Jack Straw is pressing the administration for “clarification” of whether the 210 CIA flights that have stopped in Great Britain were carting off war prisoners to be tortured in secret Eastern Europe. This isn’t one of Saddam’s crazed rants folks, this is the foreign secretary of our biggest ally in the Iraq War.

Democrats in Congress and the Senate are finally waking up and calling for an immediate end to the war. John McCain’s anti-torture legislation passed unanimously. Rep John Murtha says, “the war in Iraq is not going as advertised.” Even moderate Dems like TN Rep. Harold Ford are infuriated by GOP leaders who avoided military service but insult vets who dare criticize the war.

But don’t worry folks, according to Bush all we need to do is stay the course. Oh, and and don’t mind that corpse in the corner — the truth will get a 21-gun salute and a government coffin.