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American People Are Being Had

I believe it is now safe to say that President Bush made up his mind a long time ago about attacking Iraq. He needed time to activate national guard units around the country, time to transport the necessary equipment into the region, time to develop a strategy for a solid military victory, and time to get the country ready for war. So he outwardly gave in to the doves of the world, led by Colin Powell, while inwardly sticking with the chicken hawks, led by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. But as we saw this week, Bush always intended to go to war. And even though he now claims to be ''sick and tired'' of playing the game, that's all he's been doing too.

Besides, taking the time to seek the support of the UN Security Council, consult Congress and reach out to our allies for support made Bush appear to be less of a warmonger than he really is. It made him appear to be more presidential and less like a cowboy; more mature and less impetuous. It made him appear to be more deliberate and less like one who shoots from the lip; more methodical and less illogical. Or so he thought. But more important, it gave him time to get ready to attack Iraq--something we weren't prepared to do a year ago, much to Bush's chagrin.

At first Bush didn't want to wait because he thought that for at least one year after 9/11, Americans would be in a retaliatory mood and wouldn't care who was hit or why. Indeed, he wanted to strike last September, when 68 percent of Americans favored war. War was Bush's first option, and he didn't bother coming up with a second option because, given his popularity, he didn't need one. He wanted desperately to avoid what is happening today, as more and more Americans begin to question the need to go to war against Iraq with each passing week.

But to Bush, public opinion doesn't seem to matter. Bush figures that if he can't muster sufficient American support for war before he attacks Iraq, he can get the support he needs after he attacks. While Americans may not want war, Bush figures that once the shooting starts, everybody is going to rally around the flag, whose protective shield will be neatly wrapped around him. After all, to Bush's way of thinking, popularity trumps policy.

In other words, if people like you, it's easier to get your way with them. Mark my words: Somebody is really being had, and I'm afraid it's the American people. We'd better start asking Bush and ourselves, will he respect us in the morning?

Three things stood out in Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday. One, he's determined to go to war. Two, many Americans remain unconvinced as to why. Three, Bush intends to liberate, stabilize and democratize the world. I've got three things to tell the president.

One, attacking Iraq would be wrong--especially if we have to do it alone. Bush needs to get real and then level with the American people. Bush the fear-monger is almost as good as Bush the warmonger. Instead of just telling us the risks involved if we don't attack, tell us the risks involved if we do attack. In the long run, the risks involved in attacking Iraq outweigh the risks involved if we don't.

Two, get American conviction on your side before you attack. When so many Americans are unemployed, financially ruined and uninsured, have lost their home and unemployment benefits, can't afford to go to school or buy prescription drugs, and their country is about to squander $100 billion to $200 billion and put 150,000 American men and women in harm's way while giving the wealthiest Americans the biggest tax break in history, conviction will make up for the lack of enthusiasm your approach engenders.

Three, you're turning your father's half-baked New World Order into your own overheated New World Odor. Get off this nonsense of making the world's 190 nations as free as America. Less than half of our allies and none of our enemies want the freedoms we have, or used to have.

Get real, Mr. President, before you become a bigger threat to world peace and stability than Saddam Hussein. 

Source: Copyright 2003, Digital Chicago Inc.

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