In Honor of the Libby Verdict

As we move into the fifth year of the war in Iraq, we now hear Vice President Dick Cheney serve as the point man for an administration that continues to lie to the American people.
Words mean so much and this despicable man is using them in a calculated way to denigrate and defame those who disagree with him and his administration — isn’t it clear by now who is really running the show? — by saying they give aid and comfort to al-Qaida.
This rude, insulting and arrogant vice president said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Penn, validated al-Qaida’s strategy. How far away was that from calling Pelosi and Murtha traitors?
Cheney didn’t say it outright, but his goal was to get us all to feel that way, so he came pretty damn close as far as I’m concerned; and perhaps as far as Pelosi and Murtha are concerned, too.
Pelosi complained that Cheney had attacked her patriotism because of her suggestion that American troops should leave Iraq. Cheney’s rejoinder to her demand for an apology, as reported in The Boston Herald, not a lefty rag, was: “My statement was that if we adopt the Pelosi policy, that then we will validate the strategy of al-Qaida. I said it and I meant it … I’m not backing down.”
These verbal hand grenades came during Cheney’s trip to the Far East and gave more support to Samuel Johnson’s aphorism that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
But there are some dirty little secrets about the war and this administration’s lies you’ll want to think about critically.
For example, last week, British Prime Minster Tony Blair, ever the administration’s lapdog, announced a major draw-down of his country’s troops from Iraq.
Cheney and his spinmeisters decided to claim this was a good thing. The British troops were leaving, according to Cheney in an “exclusive” interview with ABC, because things were going well and it was an affirmation of the administration’s policy.
Of course, when the Democrats, or anyone else for that matter, suggest we draw down or otherwise reduce our role in Iraq, they’re accused of “cutting and running.” I can’t for the life of me understand why, then, the Brits aren’t accused of the same.
Let’s review some of the lies from this administration that relate to the invasion of Iraq:
• Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
• Mission Accomplished!
• The insurgency is being defeated.
• There is no civil war.
• Our troops are well equipped.
• The returning wounded troops are getting the best medical care possible.
Need I go on?
But there’s more to this than the administration wants you to know and it affects every soldier on the ground.
First, let me note that an Internet search of “rules of engagement” and “Iraq” will bring you more hits than on a doobie at a rock concert.
Second, and here’s where folks need to pay attention, after you wade through the Web sites to understand the Rules of Engagement, you should talk to some of the grunts on the ground. I have and I have talked to some of their officers and got some solid information.
No, I won’t rat out my sources, and no, I didn’t check with the Pentagon because their PR machine is part of what’s keeping Americans from knowing what’s really going on.
At the start of the invasion, the ROE let us fight right. If a sniper shot at our people from a rooftop, we responded by destroying the house. Civilian casualties may have ensued, but the effect was that neighbors wouldn’t let the enemy use their area to fight the good guys — and make no mistake, American soldiers are the good guys. Responding with overwhelming force prevented American deaths.
The rules have changed. Now, our guys have to call back to headquarters, get permission to return force and then can do so only proportionately to the force dished out.
This is the bottom line. Our military’s hands are being tied and it’s sacrificing the blood of our young, of Iraq’s innocents and of some 800 contractors
Last fall’s election were much more of a call for change than an endorsement of the entire Democratic party. But with a two-party system, it’s the only way we can change the course of our foreign and anti-terror policies.
Now, George “I am the decider” Bush, in the face of democratic elections at home, has unleashed this execrable man, Cheney, to besmirch his own countrymen while he and Bush rattle sabers at Iran.
We need to remember the lies now and through the next election.
Our soldiers deserve no less.