Can We Take It Anymore?

Americans and Iraqis are still dying daily. It's August, and the number of American military personnel killed is nearing 1000. Thousands of innocent Iraqis have lost their lives. Perhaps as many as five times the number of people who died on September 11th have been killed in our war of aggression. Are we losing count of the dead? Do we have the stomach to keep up with the growing casualty count? Can we look at the pictures? As time passes and the horror continues without let-up, our capacity for focusing on the loss of life is diminishing. As human beings we just can't keep it up. Many Americans were not prepared for a long occupation and violent confrontations. Perhaps Bush thought that if he gave "sovereignty" back at the end of June, Americans would be convinced of his success in Iraq. Have you noticed that the media has changed its approach since then? News of Iraq has more and more been relegated to obscure placement in newspapers. Only the most spectacular assaults make the headlines now, and the smaller incidences go under-reported. It's summer in America- time for vacations and family fun. And besides, the presidential campaign is the big story these days.

In his article in "The Revealer," Jeff Sharlet writes, "We've grown tired of reading and looking at this (the Iraq) story; the mainstream press is getting tired of telling it. " Sharlet brings up a painful subject: Both presidential candidates talk of an on-going war. He says that Bush is trying to downplay the Iraq war while Kerry is embracing it, hoping that pro-war Americans will vote for him and his plan for the Middle East. However, Kerry has been formulating more and more strategies for Iraq in the last few weeks. He simply cannot be expected to come up with a perfect solution at this time. There isn't anyone who could do that. The mess we are in, the one caused by Bush, is so complex that it will take miraculous measures by many people to even begin to fix it. So let's get off Kerry's back about this, and get him elected. Then we will have a president who will listen, read, collaborate, and help us repair ourselves. If we get Bush for another four years, not only will he not care about what anyone thinks (since he will not be concerned with re-election), he will continue on this war path which benefits his neocon friends. War profiteering will flourish, and we will be in a crisis of unimagined proportions.

The bodies keep coming home in those "transfer tubes," as they are so euphemistically called. Every day our young soldiers are still dying. We are left with very tough questions. Many Americans want our troops home ASAP. Others believe we can't just leave now that we're there. Some say it is not good to change presidents in war time. To the contrary, we must change presidents in this time of war. When people shout "Four more years!," what are they thinking?

We must elect a new president.

[If you click on the title above to go to the Sharlet article, please be warned that you will see very graphic pictures which will be difficult to look at.]