Bush's Martyrs
By Michael Lind
Whitehead Senior Fellow
New Statesman (UK)
March 1, 2004
''Keep the soldiers happy," the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, on his deathbed, reportedly advised
his successor. At the moment, this is a challenge that President George W Bush is struggling to meet. Most
US military officers were opposed to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, a project concocted and supervised
by civilian appointees such as the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, and the
staff of the vice-president, Dick Cheney. Prolonged deployments of National Guard units are making the
families of America's "weekend warriors" angry and stressed, and morale is reportedly low among America's
overstretched career soldiers. As American and coalition casualties climb day by day in Iraq, Bush's boasting
on the flight deck of the USS Lincoln looks ever more like hubris. And the likelihood of Bush's Democratic
opponent in the November presidential election being a Vietnam veteran who was decorated for bravery at
a time when Bush avoided combat duty in Vietnam by serving in the National Guard in Texas and Alabama
makes things even more difficult. newamerica.net |
