Two Iraqs

John Edwards made his political coin on the phrase, "Two Americas." The gist is that there is the America that Bush represents: the rich and powerful getting more rich and powerful while leaving the workers to toil their own way; and the real America: working-class families suffering from lack of jobs, lack of health care, and lack of educational opportunity. In fact, Bush's own administration presents two Americas: There's the one we hear about in the campaign rhetoric (the economy has turned the corner, job growth is strong, etc., etc.), and the one we read about in very quietly released reports from the agencies themselves (charter schools failing, job growth stagnant, middle class and poor tax burdens increasing, people losing health care, etc., etc.).

Now we have not only two Americas coming from the Bush government, but two Iraqs. The first Iraq, the campaign rhetoric Iraq, is full of Democracy, Freedom, Reconstruction, and Hope. It's what Bush talks about whenever anyone is likely within earshot. Then there's the REAL Iraq, which is full of death, despair, conflict, chaos, and questions. This is the one the CIA talks about in a report that so far Bush has not made public despite the urging of both Democrat and Republican members of Congress.

This report (or so the liberal flakes in the Dan Rather-dominated news media would have you believe) says something to the effect that Iraq is an absolute mess, an unmitigated disaster where large portions of the country are not only run by insurgents but are entirely uncontrollable at this point. It paints the picture of a hostile native population, and it promises a short-term outlook for Iraq as somewhere between excruciatingly grim and shockingly desperate.

Over 1,000 American soldiers dead. Well over 20,000 Iraqi soldiers dead, and God knows how many civilians. A nation's infrastructure ruined. And it bears repeating: No weapons of mass destruction. No real evidence of a viable weapons program. No yellowcake. No link to Al Quaida or September 11th. No relevance in the "war on terror." No mobile biological weapons factories. NO JUSTIFICATION FOR ALL THIS DEATH, DESTRUCTION, AND MALFEASANCE.

Now that we've made a mess, we need to clean it up. Unfortunately, Bush has poured blood on the desert and turned it into a quagmire that will take decades to fix. He has demolished American credibility throughout the world. He has created an incubator for terrorism in Iraq while sliding backwards on many other important issues such as actual HOMELAND security, the environment, the economy, finding Osama, and the middle east conflict (remember that Palestinian thing?). Bush has made this world decidedly less safe and less friendly to Americans.

Regardless of what you might think of John Kerry, he is without doubt a better choice than four more years of Bush. Unless, of course, you like dead American soldiers and the world hating us and the environment torn down for economic gain and civili liberties trod upon and not being able to trust the president. If that's what you like, vote for Bush.

No one died when Clinton lied.
1,000 blood-soaked uniforms, and we impeached Clinton over one blue dress.
No WMD.
No 9/11 link.
No Al-Quaida link.
No Osama (where IS that guy?)
Bush's slogan should be "Support our oops", not "support our troops."
In November, I plan on supporting America's combat soldiers by voting for John Kerry.

Supporting our troops does not mean blindly following an incompetent leader. Supporting our troops involves moral support for the men and women doing the work, but also diligent watchdogging of the civilians who put them in harm's way. The best way to support our troops is to ensure they are put in danger only for worthwhile ends, and destroying the sovereign nation of Iraq was not a worthwhile end.