by Christine Smith

In this weeks presidential radio address, Bush tells us he met with veterans and military families who 'support our troops and their mission in Iraq', and that these men and women's sacrifices and suffering are in service of 'their important mission to protect the United States.'

I say go tell it to the graves of 3,632 Americans--all of whom died because of your unjust invasion and occupation of Iraq, and tell it to the 26,558 wounded Americans --whose bodies are burned, amputated, riddled with shrapnel, paralyzed, and brain damaged, go tell it to the families of all of them...go tell it to our men and women on their second, third and fourth tours...go continue the big lie--that they die and suffer 'to protect the U.S.'

I am reminded of a WWII report by the United States Office of Strategic Services which described Hitler's psychological profile in this way: 'His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.'

Perhaps you simply continue, as George Orwell described in 1984, 'To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed…'

You say Al Qaeda uses fear to agitate the U.S. population, when it is you, Bush, and your gang, that more than anyone in the world uses fear to agitate the American people. For only by using the powerful tool of fear can you keep sending more American troops to their needless death so your political agenda can proceed...and it is in my opinion your continued occupation in Iraq which is responsible for al-Qaeda becoming stronger...and creating more potential terrorists.

I now quote from William E. Odom, retired Army lieutenant general, former head of Army intelligence and director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan and who served on the National Security Council staff under Jimmy Carter, '...we must acknowledge that most of our policies are actually destabilizing the region. Spreading democracy, using sticks to try to prevent nuclear proliferation, threatening 'regime change,' using the hysterical rhetoric of the 'global war on terrorism' -- all undermine the stability we so desperately need in the Middle East.'

Protecting the United States is what our military is for...So there is absolutely no reason for our men and women to be dying in someone else's civil war.

Bush, every week you give us your radio address pretending like your war is going great and that our nation is safer because of you...but let me tell you, I believe your lies are no longer being believed. In my opinion, You will not go down in history remembered as a fine war president but your legacy will be that of being regarded as the worst American president to date.

If you had any sense of the gravity of pain and loss you have inflicted upon our nation and world, you would resign...but of course an arrogant egotist will never do that for it would mean having to admit a mistake.

I believe the only rational course is immediate withdrawal of every U.S. troop and all U.S. government personnel from Iraq. Peace delayed is peace denied...and I am for immediate peace for our American troops and their families....withdrawal as quickly is safely possible is the only hope we have to save us from more pointless losses and suffering.