Molly Ivins*******The 'Long War'? Oh, Goodie******

AUSTIN, Texas — President Bush has once more undertaken to explain to us "Why We Fight," which is also the title of an excellent new documentary on Iraq. According to the president, "Our goal in Iraq is victory." I personally did not find that a helpful clarification.

According to the president, we are doomed to stay in Iraq until we "leave behind a democracy that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself." That's not exactly getting closer every day. But, the Prez sez, "A free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will make the American people more secure for generations to come."

So far, no good. After three years, tens of thousands of lives and $200 billion, we have achieved chaos. As Rep. John Murtha put it, "The only people who want us in Iraq are Iran and al-Qaida." Since the revisionist myth that we went to war to promote democracy keeps seeping into rational discussion, it is worth reminding ourselves that there never were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

We are inarguably facing more terrorists now than there were when we started, so the Pentagon has decided to fight what it is now calling "the Long War." Has anyone asked you about this? Me, neither. Nor has anyone asked Congress. The administration — mostly Donald Rumsfeld — just decided we would have a long war and declared it, and is now committing us to fight against a fuzzy ideology no one seems to be able to define.

Our problem now is that we're not fighting the people who attacked us — they're still running around on the Afghan-Pakistan border while we battle Iraqis who don't like us occupying their country.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0318-26.htm

Between their huge Hummers and their Long Wars, is anyone else starting to see a theme, here???

They're all old, rich men compensating for their lack of ....and we are being asked to bankroll their ridiculous fantasies and greed. I love Molly but in my recent mood, I can't handle her columns emotionally very well. The truth is very, very painful.