George Bush Gives a History Lesson

While on his "Gonzo Distraction Tour" yesterday, Bush had the following to say when asked a question by an administration plant audience member about comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq:

'"I want to remind you that after Vietnam, after we left, millions of people lost their life," Bush said here when an audience member asked about comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq. "The Khmer Rouge, for example, in Cambodia. And my concern is there would be a parallel...The same thing would happen. There would be the slaughter of a lot of innocent life. The difference, of course, is that this time around, the enemy wouldn't just be content to stay in the Middle East; they'd follow us here."'

I have to comment on that statement because there are so many things wrong with it:

1. Since when does George Bush give a shit about anyone besides himself?
2. He said that lots of Cambodians died when we left Vietnam. Does that mean that lots of Syrians or Iranians will die if we leave Iraq? If so, then back to question #1.
3. The vast majority of the people in Iraq who have died since we invaded died because we invaded. And they are still dying literally by the bus load today. The Iraqis will be killing each other whether the U.S. military is there or not for a long, long time. If it weren't for George Bush needing to show the world how manly he is, most of the Iraqi dead would still be alive today. Back to question #1 again.
   
4. Last, but far from least, the old "we have to fight them there or they'll follow us back here" meme. Sigh. That is just so dumb it's hard to know where to start. The vast majority of "insurgents" are Iraqi citizens fighting each other. This is otherwise known as a civil war. The Iraqis who are killing American soldiers are doing so because they don't want us there. It's their country, after all, not ours and certainly not George Bush's. As far as Al Qaeda is concerned, everyone who knows anything about Iraq knows that they weren't even a factor there until after we invaded. What we have done is provide them with fertile recruiting grounds, and the longer we stay there, the larger and more powerful they'll become. Al Qaeda actually wants us to be in Iraq for this specific reason. It costs them nothing to fight in their own backyard, but it is bankrupting the United States keeping 150,000+ troops there indefinitely. Remember that Bin Laden got his start fighting Soviets in Afghanistan. The cost of that war was a contributing factor to the downfall of the Soviet Union. Al Qaeda knows all this. From their perspective, what's not to like? Finally, the whole reason Al Qaeda hates the United States so much is because we occupy what they consider to be their holy land and we interfere in their business. It has nothing to do with them "hating our freedom".

My greatest hope is that Congress will realize that the only way to restore sanity and the rule of law is to impeach Bush and Cheney.

Impeachment: it's not just for blowjobs any more.