Open letter in the paper today from an American

[babylonsister]

http://www.iraqletter.org/

How many more must die
before we change course?

It’s 5am in the morning. I can’t sleep and suddenly I find myself in front of my computer, writing. There’s been this pain in my gut. It’s the war. 20,000 of America’s finest young men and women have died or have been severely wounded. There are more than 50,000 Iraqi dead and 900,000 refugees. There is no end in sight.

America has now lost its good standing in the world because our President proclaimed that we needed to invade Iraq following 9-11 because we were in danger from their weapons of mass destruction. This was not true. Iraq’s oil was supposed to pay for the war but it was not to be. The war was to cost seventy billion dollars, but now it’s five hundred billion and growing. Now we are told that the war in Iraq is about "protecting us from terrorists" yet our borders are not secure and American ports remain vulnerable.

It’s increasingly clear that the three-hundred-million dollars we now spend every day in Iraq means that our country does not have enough money for our schools, health care, border security, or even to adequately help our citizens who were devastated by hurricane Katrina. By all traditional measurements, Bush’s war has been a monumental disaster that will haunt our nation for decades; long after this current batch of congressional scandals fade away.

Now it’s election time. Once again, the White House is turning up the rhetoric, endlessly repeating: "we’re fighting terrorism in Iraq." There is an array of mean-spirited pundits who are quick to brand people who question this war as unpatriotic losers. Yet most Americans can see that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld have made monumental mistakes over the past several years. The White House state of denial now includes political advertisements featuring Osama bin Laden, to create even more fear so Bush can retain control of Congress. How ironic, since it was Bush who promised America, some five years ago, that he would bring bin Laden to justice.

I turn on the early morning news. I watch a sound bite of our President giving a speech to yet another pre-approved audience. Bush works the crowd, defiantly reminding his supporters: "America has to stay the course in Iraq to spread freedom." The audience applauds politely. The 6am news broadcast ends. It’s time for me to go to work. I should explain that I am not affiliated with any group or party; I paid for this space out of my own pocket. I’m just one voice from a small town who feels that our brave troops deserve better leadership. Please help to elect a Congress that insists our President appoint new advisors capable of finding a solution to bring our troops back home. Your vote can return the balance of power to a new Congress.

Cliff Branch, San Luis Obispo, California

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Follow up note: If you have had enough of the Iraq war, I hope you will help out in your local races and not rely on the polls. The President himself warned us: At yesterday’s national press conference, he confidently predicted that he would keep total control of the Congress. Bush also expressed his disdain for all of the political analysts "who are prematurely dancing around on the ten yard line before there has been a touchdown."

How ironic to hear this from the same man who dressed up in a jet-fighter-pilot suit and strutted to the podium to give a victory speech under a big banner that read "Mission Accomplished!"

[Parche]

1. wow`

He says it all, what a fantastic letter