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Friday,
March 26, 2004 |
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Bush
administration must take responsibility
Opinion
Editor Jeff Brubaker
is a junior history major from Weslaco.
This
past weekend hundreds of thousands of people from around
the world turned out to protest the Bush administration’s
hawkish policies and military actions in Iraq. Their voices
echo the outrage that was felt when the United States
first invaded Iraq over a year ago in what many call an
illegal and unprovoked invasion. While no one mourns the
loss of Saddam Hussein, we must consider whether toppling
his regime has produced the desired effect.
Over and over again the Bush administration points to
a long list of allies as an example of international support
for their unilateral decision to invade and occupy Iraq.
The fact is, the shining examples they point to are economically,
politically, and militarily minor states. Many, such as
Poland and Croatia, are still recovering from Soviet occupation
which ended less than two decades ago. In more influential
nations that supported the war, such as Spain and Italy,
only the government supported the invasion and not the
majority of the people. So much for upholding democracy.
Recently Spain, Poland and Croatia have all expressed
a wish to withdraw their troops currently stationed in
Iraq. President Bush’s list of supposed allies is
wearing thin.
Even though the Bush administration has continually insisted
that Hussein was working with Osama Bin Laden, it is now
clear that there was no link whatsoever. President Bush
even admitted in September 2003 that “We’ve
had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with
September the 11th.” Instead of advancing in his
“war on terror,” President Bush has created
a hotbed for terrorist activity and a virtual buffet for
al Qaeda recruiting.
Almost every day there is a terrorist attack somewhere
in Iraq killing both soldiers and civilians. To date,
over 570 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq —
both in the initial invasion and the resulting guerrilla
insurgency. The official count of Iraqi civilian casualties,
which was stopped by the administration some months ago,
counted at least 9,000 men, women and children killed
as a direct result of President Bush’s decision to
invade Iraq. How many have died since? How many have to
die before it becomes clear that life in Iraq is not better
today than it was when Saddam Hussein was in power? It
appears that the Iraqis have, against their will, traded
one oppressive regime for another.
Then of course there are the weapons of mass destruction.
The Bush administration insisted for months that Iraq
had them, and when none were found they predicted they
would be discovered soon and continued to accuse Hussein
of continuing a program to develop them, despite U.N.
inspections which cast doubts on such claims. Now, more
than a year later, it is clear that President Bush was
buttering up his evidence to gain political support for
the war when he called Iraq an “imminent threat,”
though it clearly was not.
Despite the fact that the Bush administration has catapulted
our country into what may very likely develop into a new
Vietnam, it is vital that we continue to help Iraq’s
society emerge in this dangerous stage. Our troops who
were pulled away from their families for the wrong reasons
must now stay and do what they can. The Bush administration,
however, must be held accountable for the sacrifice they
are forcing such brave men and women to make. They must
not be allowed to rush the situation by forcing a constitution
and pulling our troops out early in order to gain political
favor. To do so would make a desperate situation worse.
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