War Bulletin 41794
War Bulletin 41704
The war in Iraq has splintered into so many facets that it is difficult to find a place to start commenting on the present situation. This current war is so confusing and changing so fast that the paper I intend to write will be out of date before I get it completed.
There are several facts that will not change but will survive this paper and probably will outlive the administration of George W Bush and Dick Cheney.
1. The fact that Bush and Cheney were conspiring to attack Iraq prior to the 9-11 attack has turned the spotlight on the lie asserting that Iraq’s leader was a party to that disaster. This also lends credence to the contention of some that from their inauguration date they were searching for an excuse to take over the oil rich region.
2. The repeated well planned attacks on our armed forces and on the contract reconstruction crews reveals how poorly the administration prepared for the post-war activities in Iraq. It is difficult to believe the president’s statement that the program “is on track” when we read press reports of enemy attacks, kidnappings and bodily mutilations and hear the death and injury statistics.
3. The military and civilian authorities can’t agree on the issue of the number of soldiers needed to control the growing rebellious outbreaks in many areas of the country. Some units due for rotation back to the states are being kept on line in an attempt to prevent further damage and deaths. One of the results of this is a dramatic increase in the number of suicides among the armed forces personnel.
4. Events in Washington bring confirmation that the president pushed the nation into this war without having a plan for handling the aftermath that even simple-minded persons knew would follow the downfall of Saddam Hussein. When events in the area revealed that no workable plan existed the president called in business cronies and gave them generous repair and reconstruction contracts without benefit of bidding procedures. Some of those firms have been caught overcharging for their services and allowing sub-contractors to incur unauthorized expenses in their “cost-plus” contracts. Mr. Bush evidently, and incorrectly, believed that the sight of workers repairing school and government buildings, oil refineries and waterworks would ease the hatred generated in the minds of the local population by the invasion of their country by the “Infidels” from America. Evidently Mr. Bush misjudged the culture and history of these people.
5. Important leaders in the fight against terrorism have left their government jobs and have talked and written about the failures of the leadership and the dishonest tactics used to withhold the truth from the American people. Those people have been abused for their revelations. In one case the name of a man’s wife serving as a secret agent was revealed to the press to punish the man for his telling the truth about the administration’s claim that Hussein was trying to buy Uranium in Africa.
I have no doubt that the passing of time will bring news of many more instances of miss-management in the prosecution of the war in Iraq.
In the meantime, the Bush Administration is squandering the publicly owned natural resources in the United States. I am talking of forests, parks, oil and minerals under these lands that belong to you, me and all the other citizens of the country. The agencies responsible for protecting of health of the people and their property are systematically relaxing the enforcement of laws designed to preserve our resources and protect our health. If they are not able to get the laws removed or relaxed by administrative decrees, they withhold the funds needed to enforce them. These actions are part of Bush’s domestic war in which he appears to consider the American people as enemies of the state. With the help of a Republican Congress he is able to be as successful in this war as he is failing in the Iraq war. He is acting as if he has fee simple title to the natural resources of the United States and is able to let his friends and large contributors use or consume them with no (or minimum) payments to the government. It will be many years before we are able to determine the cost resulting from the administration’s revision of the pollution and environmental laws and rules to suit their program rather than enforcing them for the benefit of the health and welfare of the citizens of the country.
Certainly Mr. Bush will be out of office before the citizens learn the full cost of the management actions which have, within three years, squandered a healthy surplus and replaced it with deficits larger than we have ever had. He will leave office with accumulated national debt that will be a financial burden on the people for several generations. Interest payments on that debt will limit growth and development of our country in ways unimagined at this time.
The persons on Social Security and Medicare at this time can expect to suffer financially as a result of this administration’s policies. The Baby Boomers who will be expecting to retire in a few years will be shocked to learn how their benefits will be reduced and their Medical costs increased.
It is impossible to forecast how the Iraq war will play out, but the present prospects are pretty ugly. Certainly, the United States will have suffered a shameful and unprecedented loss of prestige among the nations of the world, resulting in loss of ability to forge favorable economic, environmental and peace arrangements. Only a long period of honest and fair relationships by future administrations can remove the stigma of chutzpah displayed by the Bush administration.
Finally, a word must be said about the wall of separation between the State and the Church. Our founding fathers had experience and historical evidence to convince them that the government had a fulltime job in managing the affairs of state and should not attempt to run the affairs of the church as well. Likewise, they were convinced that the church was not equipped to act as an arm of the government. They felt that it would be unwise for either to attempt to control the other. President Bush has taken actions that serve to weaken this traditional wall of separation. These actions should be sufficient to alert the leaders in the church and in the government to the dangers to both that would result from attempts to consolidate their functions. Both the State and the Church will work more effectively if each stays on its side of the fence.
Jerry Clements 4/17/04
The war in Iraq has splintered into so many facets that it is difficult to find a place to start commenting on the present situation. This current war is so confusing and changing so fast that the paper I intend to write will be out of date before I get it completed.
There are several facts that will not change but will survive this paper and probably will outlive the administration of George W Bush and Dick Cheney.
1. The fact that Bush and Cheney were conspiring to attack Iraq prior to the 9-11 attack has turned the spotlight on the lie asserting that Iraq’s leader was a party to that disaster. This also lends credence to the contention of some that from their inauguration date they were searching for an excuse to take over the oil rich region.
2. The repeated well planned attacks on our armed forces and on the contract reconstruction crews reveals how poorly the administration prepared for the post-war activities in Iraq. It is difficult to believe the president’s statement that the program “is on track” when we read press reports of enemy attacks, kidnappings and bodily mutilations and hear the death and injury statistics.
3. The military and civilian authorities can’t agree on the issue of the number of soldiers needed to control the growing rebellious outbreaks in many areas of the country. Some units due for rotation back to the states are being kept on line in an attempt to prevent further damage and deaths. One of the results of this is a dramatic increase in the number of suicides among the armed forces personnel.
4. Events in Washington bring confirmation that the president pushed the nation into this war without having a plan for handling the aftermath that even simple-minded persons knew would follow the downfall of Saddam Hussein. When events in the area revealed that no workable plan existed the president called in business cronies and gave them generous repair and reconstruction contracts without benefit of bidding procedures. Some of those firms have been caught overcharging for their services and allowing sub-contractors to incur unauthorized expenses in their “cost-plus” contracts. Mr. Bush evidently, and incorrectly, believed that the sight of workers repairing school and government buildings, oil refineries and waterworks would ease the hatred generated in the minds of the local population by the invasion of their country by the “Infidels” from America. Evidently Mr. Bush misjudged the culture and history of these people.
5. Important leaders in the fight against terrorism have left their government jobs and have talked and written about the failures of the leadership and the dishonest tactics used to withhold the truth from the American people. Those people have been abused for their revelations. In one case the name of a man’s wife serving as a secret agent was revealed to the press to punish the man for his telling the truth about the administration’s claim that Hussein was trying to buy Uranium in Africa.
I have no doubt that the passing of time will bring news of many more instances of miss-management in the prosecution of the war in Iraq.
In the meantime, the Bush Administration is squandering the publicly owned natural resources in the United States. I am talking of forests, parks, oil and minerals under these lands that belong to you, me and all the other citizens of the country. The agencies responsible for protecting of health of the people and their property are systematically relaxing the enforcement of laws designed to preserve our resources and protect our health. If they are not able to get the laws removed or relaxed by administrative decrees, they withhold the funds needed to enforce them. These actions are part of Bush’s domestic war in which he appears to consider the American people as enemies of the state. With the help of a Republican Congress he is able to be as successful in this war as he is failing in the Iraq war. He is acting as if he has fee simple title to the natural resources of the United States and is able to let his friends and large contributors use or consume them with no (or minimum) payments to the government. It will be many years before we are able to determine the cost resulting from the administration’s revision of the pollution and environmental laws and rules to suit their program rather than enforcing them for the benefit of the health and welfare of the citizens of the country.
Certainly Mr. Bush will be out of office before the citizens learn the full cost of the management actions which have, within three years, squandered a healthy surplus and replaced it with deficits larger than we have ever had. He will leave office with accumulated national debt that will be a financial burden on the people for several generations. Interest payments on that debt will limit growth and development of our country in ways unimagined at this time.
The persons on Social Security and Medicare at this time can expect to suffer financially as a result of this administration’s policies. The Baby Boomers who will be expecting to retire in a few years will be shocked to learn how their benefits will be reduced and their Medical costs increased.
It is impossible to forecast how the Iraq war will play out, but the present prospects are pretty ugly. Certainly, the United States will have suffered a shameful and unprecedented loss of prestige among the nations of the world, resulting in loss of ability to forge favorable economic, environmental and peace arrangements. Only a long period of honest and fair relationships by future administrations can remove the stigma of chutzpah displayed by the Bush administration.
Finally, a word must be said about the wall of separation between the State and the Church. Our founding fathers had experience and historical evidence to convince them that the government had a fulltime job in managing the affairs of state and should not attempt to run the affairs of the church as well. Likewise, they were convinced that the church was not equipped to act as an arm of the government. They felt that it would be unwise for either to attempt to control the other. President Bush has taken actions that serve to weaken this traditional wall of separation. These actions should be sufficient to alert the leaders in the church and in the government to the dangers to both that would result from attempts to consolidate their functions. Both the State and the Church will work more effectively if each stays on its side of the fence.
Jerry Clements 4/17/04
posted by Jeremiah | 2:40 PM
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