Nine more U.S. soldiers died in Iraq today: Nine too many in a war that should never have been launched by a President who lied with the approval of a Congress that failed to do its due diligence because both Democrats and Republicans abandoned their oath to the Constitution of the United States.
And too many more will die while the new Democratic leadership of Congress ignores the will of the voters who last November demanded change and the swift return of our soldiers from harm’s way in a country that we destroyed and turned into a breeding ground for terrorism.
At this point the chorus of self-righteous whines from the Democratic side of aisle usually rises up in a scream of pain over how we must give Congress more time to let them come up with a "politically workable" plan on bringing our troops home.
How much more time do they need? How many more Americans must die? How many more promises need to be broken before even the brain-dead lemmings who follow the party of the jackass realize that they, like Republicans before them, have been had by a bunch of corrupt, inept leaders who couldn’t lead a troop of Girl Scouts out of Central Park?
Here we are, four months after the crucial mid-term elections that promised so much and delivered so little and the agenda for the war in Iraq is driven not by the new leadership of Congress but by the same man who put us in this mess in the first place – George W. Bush.
Leaders in both the House and Senate lack the balls to take the tough steps. Nancy Pelosi has a genetic reason for her shortage of testosterone and it was a mistake to expect anything from a con-man like Harry Reid. Both Pelosi and Reid say we must "proceed cautiously" and "make sure the soldiers are protected."
Protected? Nine died today for Christ’s sake: Nine more on top of the 3,100 plus who have given their lives for a war of lies.
Their deaths come at the height of a massive U.S. military public relations push to convince a skeptical public that Bush’s "troop surge" is working to reduce the violence in Iraq. In the first two days of this week, 28 Iraqis died in Monday bombings and nine U.S. soldiers died today – so far.
NBC sent anchor Brian Williams over to "observe" the surge first hand and deliver breathless reports about "how much quieter" things seem in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq.
At one point in Monday night’s newscast, Williams appeared in an open compound with American officers who were explaining that the program was so successful they could actually stand outside. At that point other soldiers rushed up to say it wasn’t safe and escorted the entire photo op into a bunker for safety.
All this goes on while Congress continues to jawbone back home about the need to do something about Iraq. Do something? Democrats conned the voters into putting them in charge on the false promise of actually doing something, not just talking about it.
The Senate, under Reid’s lackluster leadership, can’t even muster a vote on a "non-binding" resolution. The House did manage a vote on its own, meaningless, "non-binding" piece of paper but the only way Congress can really stop the war is through the purse strings that fund it. Democrats don’t have the balls to use that power.
Pelosi and her advisors say cutting funding for Iraq would "send a wrong signal to the American people that we don’t support our troops." What Pelosi’s politically-timid brain can’t grasp is the signal that the American people sent last November. It said "get the troops home and get them home as quickly as possible."
Instead, the Democrats are falling into a carefully-laid trap laid by the Bush White House – a trap that defines the issue as one of strictly support or non-support for troops.
One has only to look at the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital to see the shallowness of support for our troops from Bush and his White House minions. Once our men and women’s role of cannon fodder is over, Bush and the Pentagon abandon them to rat-infested conditions at the facility. Bush’s new budget cuts benefits for veterans and many reservists and National Guards came home to find their jobs gone.
The best way to support our troops is by bringing them home. Every day that Bush continues to define the agenda means death to more American soldiers. Every day that the Democrats in Congress display typical political cowardice kills more American soldiers.
The blood of those nine American soldiers who died today – along with the blood of the too many more who will die in the coming days, weeks and months – stains both Democratic and Republican hands. It is a stain that will never, ever, wash off.
