FISHY CUT BAIT

"We won't cut and run."
"We can't cut and run."
"There's no way we'll cut and run."
"As long as I'm in office, we won't cut and run."

The preceeding are all cut outs from press releases from the Vietnam era.

Anyone familiar with history saw this Catch 22 coming our way. Bush's supporters, many too young to know history, right wing males too bullheaded to learn, and evangelical types who don't know anything, probably don't understand what's going on. First you ignore all the warnings about a quagmire and bull ahead into war, then once you've attacked unnecessarily because you're too impatient to wait for diplomacy, you say, "We can't cut and run." Effectively, you've locked everyone into war forever.

Of course, we can withdraw from the mess Bush caused! It's his mess, and it is not our trooper's mess or our trooper's failure or America's failure either. It's Bush's mess, and I say not one more soldier should die trying to clean up Bush's mess. He's killed enough of our young men and women and enough Iraqis. Bring our guys home, and let the Iraqis sort out the mess Bush made. It's their country, not ours.

Twenty years from now, Iraq will be just like Vietnam is now. I hear Bush's supporters say: "Vietnam? What's going on there?" [Pause...] Nothing important will be going on in Iraq either twenty years hence if we get out now.


"Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic."—Dan Rather