Hi Bob,
I am not morally opposed to war as I am not a strict pacifist. In fact I am not even a Democrat, so I have no political beef with Bush either. And like most people I hate Saddam's guts, so I shed no tears for him. All this said, going to war is a serious undertaking. Don't you think the government is responsible for efficient conduct of war and that extreme incompetence should be a punishable crime? And if per chance the government cooked up the case to go to war, don't you feel deceived and defrauded out of the billions of dollars that should otherwise been spent on education, health care, or just paying down the debt? Under what circumstances do you think the government should be held accountable for its actions and what makes an impeachable crime?
I urge you to get the facts from cooperativeresearch.org
Not only has Bush squandered the moral authority of US (by all means, go on the web and read the world views not from ME, but from UK or Germany or any NATO member), and not only has Bush restricted the civil liberties more than any other president, but he is also planting the seeds of most dangerous terrorism we will see in years to come.
Then there is the matter of his treatment of the military personnel. He sees fit to squander billions upon billions on corrupt or useless defense contracts, but when it comes to the veterans he is in the mood for cost cutting?! Take a look here cooperativeresearch.org
here are some excerpts:
October 2003
Approximately 600 sick or injured members of the US Army Reserves and National Guard are in “medical hold” at Fort Stewart where they are kept “in rows of spare, steamy and dark cement barracks in a sandy field” while doctors review their cases to determine how sick or disabled they are and whether or not they are eligible to receive benefits. Many of the soldiers in medical hold complain that they have been languishing there for “months” and that the conditions are “substandard.” Some soldiers also claim that the Army is trying to refuse them benefits on grounds that their injuries and illnesses are due to a pre-existing condition. Willie Buckels, a truck master with the 296th Transportation Company, explains to UPI reporter Mark Benjamin how he feels about the Army's treatment of the soldiers: “Now my whole idea about the US Army has changed. I am treated like a third-class citizen.” [United Press International, 10/17/2003; CNN, 10/19/2003; United Press International, 10/20/2003; The Coastal Courier, 10/22/2003]
December 2004
Upon being released from Fort Hood, Texas, 27-year-old Spc. Robert Loria is presented with a $1,768.81 bill from the US Army. [Times Herald Record, 12/10/2004 [a]] Loria was seriously injured on February 9, when the Humvee in which he was riding was hit by a roadside bomb. [Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/21/2004] The explosion “tore Loria's left hand and forearm off, split his femur in two and shot shrapnel through the left side of his body.” [Times Herald Record, 12/10/2004 [a]] After four months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., he was sent to Fort Hood where he stayed several more months. When he is finally ready to leave, instead of receiving a check for the $4,486 he thought was owed to him, he receives a huge bill. The Army says he owes $2,408.33 for 10 months of family separation pay that the Army mistakenly paid him, $2,204.25 in travel expenses from Fort Hood back to Walter Reed for a follow-up visit, and $310 for unreturned equipment that Loria says was damaged or destroyed when his Humvee was attacked. Including taxes, the total amount Lori owes the Army is $6,255.50, almost two thousand more than the amount he thought was owed to him. After a local newspaper runs a story on his situation and causes a public uproar, the Army waives most of Loria's debts. [Times Herald Record, 12/10/2004 ; The Seattle Times, 10/11/2004; Associated Press, 12/11/2004]
Read more here cooperativeresearch.org
And don't even get me started on his environmental record. Did you know that he has systematically appointed members of the most polluting industries in charge of EPA? How much sense does that make?
At this point, no matter how you voted, you have to ask yourself why do you support Bush and why should he not be held accountable for lies and incompetence?
ST
PS How come the yo-yo threat levels are not as recurring now that the election is over? Are the terrorists active only during presidential elections? If so, then perhaps to remove such a threat and make the country safer Bush should dismantle presidential elections until the war on terror is over. |
