Putting aside the violence midst the coming Iraqi elections, heavily entrenched and financially supported exile groups are dwarfing the influence of native Iraqi political groups, only furthering the bleak promise of free and fair elections. … It seems incredible that someone did not say to the president, “Excuse me, sir, but don’t you think we should finish the war in Afghanistan first?” The closest to this was Powell’s warning Bush that “if you break it you own it.” It is unfortunate that so many Americans think it is our war, not Bush’s. … Moreover, it is mystifying that we just don’t learn by the history of empires that in the end it is a losing struggle. Kerry, too, is guilty of forgetting his own youthful criticism of the Vietnam War by voting to authorize Bush’s war without bravely questioning the wisdom of it until now. … It is scary to think that just before 9/11 there were five incidents in which police had stopped the terrorists responsible for the tragedy and let them drive off after being ticketed for traffic violations, owing to inadequate integration of databases, which still are not in play to this day — that’s not just scary, it is outrageous. … How can there still be 46% of the public who believe that Saddam was responsible for 9/11? I’m hoping they don’t vote because ill-informed voters are as dangerous as our blindly informed politicians.
Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: September 28, 2004.
http://stevendedalus.joeuser.com