The Democratic Response to File-Boy’s Well-Fed Opinion --

Your point seems to be that if I pull the Democratic lever in order to pull the troops out of Iraq, that doing so will be an affront to all those good soldiers who died there - in vain - for nothing.

Lets be perfectly clear. A majority of those soldiers died there because they couldn't afford to go to college and believed that the GI bill was the best way for them to get an education in a country which favors the haves over the have-nots. Unfortunately for them, they were committed to keep up their end of the bargain when the war broke out. Broke out? (a little editorial chuckle on this end now HA!~)

Those soldiers died over there because they were lied to, not once, but twice by the party in power. I'm not blaming Bush directly, because he may have been lied to as well, and only history will reveal just how much he knew and when he knew it (sound familiar?)

The first lie was that we needed to go over there because Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The only weapon discovered in Iraq besides rocks, was their unending supply of hate for Americans.

I don't think you can forget that after Bush wiped the egg off his face, he changed his cry from "We need to be in Iraq to stop their weapons program!" to "Isn't Iraq better off without Sadam?" Talk about changing your tune!

The second (and bigger lie in my opinion) was that the US Government would bring to this war the resources necessary to quickly obtain a decisive win through Shock and Awe because the American people would not stand for a prolonged Viet-Nam type battle.

For the record, there were no weapons of mass destruction ever found – in fact they never existed. And the soldiers dying over there ARE dying for nothing, in case you haven’t noticed. They are dying because the Republican Party lied to them and sentenced them to die needlessly. They are dying because this country couldn’t make up its mind regarding whether it really wanted to be there. The war could have been won had we had the heart for it. It’s only too clear now, what we weren’t willing to admit when we first went over there – that we have no appetite for death. Nor are we willing to sacrifice in any meaningful way. As a country, we knew in our heart of hearts that we were never truly at risk from any threat from Iraq to our country, liberties or way of life. People are only willing to die for something that is real. This war is a farce.

I’m going to pull the Democratic handle on Tuesday (100 times if the damn machine will allow me) because the sound of a vote being cast is the only sound EITHER party understands, unfortunately. I want out of Iraq and I want to stop funding this war, which apparently is only benefiting Mr. Bush & Mr. Cheney’s friends, and which my kids will be paying for long after I’m gone. ENOUGH!