ephoenix

This was a great image from the Washington Times illustrating what I’ve been thinking for a long time.

How Not to End a War - washingtonpost.com

This image underlines why it is important not to pull out of Iraq before there is stability in the country. It shows the consequences of leaving an unstable country.

Many people hate the Iraq war, but I’m not going to debate as to whether they’re justified. Unfortunately however, many people’s hatred for the Iraq war is clouding their view of how and when it should end.

Many opponents to the war want it ended as soon as possible, and although they bash the administration, they don’t seem to have much of an “exit strategy” either, save ‘just pull all our troops out and leave’.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. Yes, the war may not have been fought for a good reason, but the point is, we’re still there. Regardless of the motivation for the war, there are still troops over there.

The job needs to be finished. We can argue and impeach and all that after the war is over, but regardless of any “mission accomplished” banner, the job is not done. There is still massive instability in the region and since the war has already been started, we owe it to the Iraq people to continue until Iraq can support itself.

Let’s stop this disturbing trend of “How not to end war”

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In another shocking display of a complete lack of understand of the public’s opinion, Bush has been recorded as saying Athiests should not be considered citizens or patriots. Simply Amazing. Now this is from an Athiest website, so we should be somewhat suspicious, however a statement like this wouldn’t really surprise me. It’s incredible how shortsighted and ignorant a comment like this is, although understandable for someone so involved in religion. The contradiction here is also interesting. Bush states that be supports the separation of church and state, but right after stating that atheists should not be considered citizens. Incredible, shocking interview.

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It simply boggles my mind how bad the current US government is at controlling the public’s perspective of them. In the past it has continually failed to do one of the most important jobs of an American government trying to stay in power: Spin the Truth. Countless stories have been leaked of corruption and ties to big business. For a party so closely linked with Fox News, now one of the most watched news channels in the US, it seems the Bush administration simply cannot the press’s, and therefore the public’s, view of them.

Most recently, the government has chosen to attack a Ground Zero Volunteer. They are charging Bill Maher, of Maywood N.J. with an illegal trip he took to Cuba while he was featured in Michael Moore’s latest film, Sicko. Maher had been suffering health problems since he was a volunteer at Ground Zero. In Moore’s film he travels to Cuba along with other volunteers to receive medical treatment, as they cannot afford it in the United States. Maher has since been investigated and charged with this illegal trip.

What’s wrong with this story?

The government is currently at an all time low in it’s approval rating. People are still mad over Iraq, and constant stories of government corruption have arisen recently as well. It seemed the only thing holding the country together is the shared lingering feeling of unitedness after 9/11. The country could look at all the problems in the world and think, well at least we have eachother.

Now the government has decided to attack one of the heroes of the ultra-American movement, the only movement holding the country together. Yes, technically this man did break a US law by visiting Cuba, but what is there to gain from charging him with it? This move will result in horrible PR for the government as it also makes them appear to be attacking Michael Moore. This will lead Michael Moore to a form a glib sense of self-satisfaction because he ‘messed with the man’, and no one wants that. It almost seems as if this move by the government is an intentional move to go down in a spectacular explosion of corruption and protesters.

After watching movies like Wag the Dog and the Manchurian Candidate, I really expected m ore from the spin doctors of the Bush administration. It seems like the first piece of advice one could give the government is not to attack war heroes. Of course, they could be busy with the countless other fumbles the government in involved in.

Well, at least I have something to watch on CNN.

You can also read my review of Sicko here.

UPDATE 06/26/2007: It seems the evidence of incredibly poor spin doctoring is building. Bush states that atheists should not be considered citizens.

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