An early rebuttal to Bush's primetime speech: Stars and Stripes letter

Poor leadership

Iraq is beginning to look more and more like Vietnam. And as a Vietnam veteran, I think I’ve earned the right to say that the Bush administration has made a terrible mistake. I’ve come to this conclusion after asking myself many times: Was Iraq responsible for 9/11? Did Iraq threaten us with weapons of mass destruction? Is the United States better off now than before invading Iraq? My answer to these questions is “no.” In fact, most of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. None were from Iraq. There were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq, and there are even more terrorists now, making us far worse off than before the invasion.

The price of the poor leadership shown by President Bush and Vice President Cheney is measured in the lost lives and injuries of our brave soldiers and our soaring budget deficit. The invasion of Iraq was a mistake that could have been prevented with wise and experienced leadership.

When Bush and Cheney were called upon to serve their country in time of war, both had other priorities and went to great lengths to not serve in Vietnam. If they had served and experienced the horrors of war from other than an easy chair in front of a television, they would have likely followed the advice from the wise leaders of “Old Europe” and sought a United Nations solution while pursuing the real terrorists who attacked our homeland.

Edwin Thornburg
Würzburg, Germany

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=22392

They did nothing to harm us before we harmed them.

I salute him!

Drip Drip Drip Drip Drip Drip. Kind of like Chinese Water Torture for Bush* I imagine.

Wingnut rebuttal: Oh yeah? What about that roadside bomb that had sarin (or something) in it?

Me: You know what? If that were an actual sarin bomb, everyone in the area would be dead. Not coughing up phlegm on the side of the road, not reaching for their gas masks, but DEAD. That shit will kill you faster than the stuff you spray on hornets' nests kills hornets. If it doesn't work, it's not exactly a weapon, is it?

Show what troops endure

I’m a Department of the Army civilian who supported our troops in Europe for five years. I suggest that pictures of U.S. troops’ living conditions in Iraq be shown not only to the parents of these brave young servicemembers, but also to the whole American public, from first-graders to grandparents. It’s shameful that the suffering these young people are facing daily isn’t shown to those in power to improve these heroes’ living conditions and hardships.

James L. Lockhart
Marietta, Ga.

Halliburton shareholders are living like Kings though!

I hope the US papers are keeping up! :)

The GOPers support the troops about like a spider supports a fly! Notice how the troops are the ones taking the major heat in the POW scandal cases, while the big brass who gave the troopers the orders to torture and even kill slink away untouched!

This goes all the way to the top!

Every chance he got.

And probably to the Army and on up to the Pentagon!