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On the Road to Rock Bottom ![]()
How Many More People Will Die?
A TvNewsLIES Query - November - 2005
There is no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending: Albert Einstein
THE ROAD TO HELL
George W. Bush is on a collision course with America. His presidency is rolling steadily downhill, as the people of this nation slowly begin to rub sleep away from their eyes. His approval ratings are in the low thirties, unheard of in history for a war president. He is in the worst trouble of his presidency, and it seems almost certain that rock bottom lies just ahead.
It really shouldn’t be so surprising. After all, so much that George W. Bush has touched during his tenure in the White House has deteriorated into disaster. From the environment to the economy, from health care to education – nothing has panned out as promised. In every area and on every issue, life for Americans today, and for their progeny of tomorrow, is filled with doubt and disillusion. And that will only gather momentum as Bushco continues on its inevitable road to rock bottom.
Without doubt, however, the most damaging of the Bush fiascos has been the war in Iraq. Almost everything else is subject to change. Almost all the damage can be turned around by future administrations or legislatures. But this useless war, with its unending blood and pain and suffering is so totally and so very tragically irrevocable. It may be the primary force that accelerates the downfall of this President as he hurtles to rock bottom.
But rock bottom, like so much else in the real world, is relative. While the moment of accountability for George Bush and company seems so near, in reality it is terribly far away.
George W. Bush is still the President of the United States. He has full war powers at his disposal for another three years. No matter what anyone else says or thinks, no matter what the people believe, no matter what happens here or abroad, George W. Bush and his neocon handlers are still in charge of the nation and its policies. No matter what the mood of the nation, they have three full years to do an enormous amount of damage between here and rock bottom.
If they are not stopped now, how many more people will die?
THE TURNING POINT
The Bush Presidency sustained itself for nearly five years with a series of remarkably successful ruses. They lied with impunity about a wide range of issues, but most audaciously about Iraq. With the corporate media as their echo chamber, George Bush, Dick Cheney, and others in the Liar’s Den were on incredible roll in the lead up to war. The more outrageous their lies, the better they went over with the public. The more terrifying the fabrication, the more flags were taken out of mothballs.
As the warnings about Saddam and mushroom clouds rolled off the WHIG assembly line, life was good for the warmongers. As PNAC-based manipulations reverberated in the echo chambers of the media, the nation was smoothly and effectively lured into an ill-fated war of choice.
And now, it is more than two and half years and tens of thousands of lost lives later. It is more than two and half years and tens of thousands of mutilations later. It is more than two and half years of senseless slaughter later. And still, the lies go on.
In his latest tirades, George W. Bush reverted to his standard litany and once again chose to “stay the course” in Iraq. By adhering to the old deceptive dodges, he vowed to steadfastly pursue the very policies that have defined his failing presidency until now. But this time the President actually changed course without knowing it. This time he is not on course at all. Instead, he is actually heading towards rock bottom.
For suddenly, there is a hollow ring to the repeated mantras about the war. There is an aura of distrust and suspicion in the air. Something is not quite the same. The old line is not selling quite the same way. There is an odor of treachery in the air, and the stench can no longer be washed away with the same old rhetoric. They are not quite there yet, but Bush/PNAC knows that rock bottom is closing in.
But there are three full years to go, - three long, potentially terrible years. There are more than a thousand days for the war to continue and even expand. George Bush is in free fall, but he still holds the reins. It’s still his war, and he calls the shots.
If he is not stopped now, how many more people will die?
THE AVALANCHE
What went wrong went really wrong. After all, what the Bush/PNAC warriors never counted on was discovery. They were cocky, they were arrogant, they were over confident. And they began to make mistakes.
Almost without warning, the scandals broke from a dozen sides. The names seemed to be new, but they really were not. In fact, with one exception, all of the names were well known. It’s just that the corporate media had been sitting on their stories for years before the dam broke.
And then Katrina, the one name that was nowhere in the archives, triggered the avalanche.
Katrina, ironically, was the catalyst. After the debacle of the hurricane, more and more piece of the puzzle began to seep into the public consciousness. Long suppressed names came back into prominence: Abu Ghraib, Falluja, Halliburton, Gitmo, Valerie Plame, Joseph Wilson, Michael Brown, Jack Abramoff, Scooter Libby, Judith Miller, Patrick Fitzgerald, Downing Street Minutes, the WHIGs, Tom DeLay, and the Kean Commission. The past came back in a torrent:
Suddenly, questions were being raised. The distinction between incompetence and complicity was being eroded; the people had lost their trust. Americans finally wanted to know: what did George Bush know and when did he know about FEMA, about 9/11, about WMD’s, about aluminum tubes, about the Niger forgery, about Iraqi civilian deaths, about white phosphorus, about depleted uranium, about missing billions, - just about everything and anything they had lied about five nearly years.
The avalanche came, but the Bush cartel was far from buried. Injured, but not dead, they have three long years to claw their way out of the rubble.
If they are not stopped now, how many more people will die?
THE PRICE
The war in Iraq has exacted a heavy price on this nation; far, far more than we were told by those who planned it. It has led to more than 2,100 American and 200 coalition military deaths. Iraqi civilian deaths, never fully counted, have been estimated between 30,000 and 100,000. The amputees, the blinded, the burned, the maimed and the emotionally scarred are yet to be totaled. Iraq and its people have been destabilized and demoralized. There was no war plan and no strategy for maintaining the peace. There was only the promise of Ahmed Chalabi that all would be a cakewalk.
And this irresponsible debacle costs American taxpayers 6 billion dollars each and every month.
And each minute of every day that this is permitted to continue, these numbers go up.
While the rest of the world looks with revulsion at what has happened to the United States of America and its place or prominence among nations, people are dying. And no one has ever explained why.
While the media turn the new Iraq War discourse into a political circus, people are dying. And no one has ever explained why.
While Democrats and Republicans juggle their positions on the war for politically expediency, people are dying. And no one has ever explained why.
And so, while George Bush is heading towards rock bottom, nothing really changes at all. The bodies of our young men and women in uniform still are being torn apart. Detainees claimed by everyone – the US, the interim Iraq government, the insurgents, the CIA, the FBI – by everyone – are being tortured and starved and held without charges or due process. Dammit, people are dying and suffering, - and no one has ever explained why.
And no, it’s not about terror. It really is not. It never was, and it never will be.
And no, it’s not about poll numbers or public opinion or speeches or protests or newspaper editorials. It’s about death and destruction, about suffering and mayhem, and the price we are willing to pay for the Bush/PNAC dream to come true.
As the world of Bush begins to crumble, and as rock bottom becomes a reality for his presidency, people are dying. Real people with real lives and real families and real feelings are dying every minute of every single day.
And if he is not stopped now, how many more people will die?
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