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Original Article (Spanish)

By Juana Carrasco Martín

August 28, 2005

“Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homocidal maniac.” The sentence is from North American writer George Orwell, and is custom made for George W. Bush and the initiating episodes of his peculiar war against terrorism: the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. He personized the enemy as Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and set in motion his own version of criminal insanity.

Bush and His Dog, Barney

As result, thousands of Afghans and Iraqis are dead – we lack precise figures, because the White House hasn’t the smallest amount of interest in the data -- and the number of U.S. soldiers that have sacrificed their lives to the alter of war is growing. Newspapers report the figure for Iraq as 1,873 and for Afghanistan, 229.

But with dispicable arrogance, the chief executive has said that while he is in charge of the destiny of the United States, he will not withdraw his forces from Iraq. His biggest problem is that he doesn’t want to recognize the size of the problem. His weakened mandate reduces further the already deteriorating prestige of his country, he divides North American society, has left thousands of families grieving, and in the not-too-distant-future will plunge the country into an economic crisis. But none of this is of any importance, since others fill their coffers ... Bush is the representative of a very powerful group of politicians.

Cindy Sheehan in Washington on Friday

In these days of vacations and petulance, Bush, with the support of the mass media and groups that support the war, has spent his time viscously attacking Cindy Sheehan -- saying that the families of soldiers that had fallen in Iraq did not agree with this woman who had raised camp Casey, in honor of her fallen son, closing his eyes to the fact that Sheehan has catalyzed the anti-war feeling of the nation.

In three speeches delivered to select crowds of military or ex-military and on his Saturday radio show, W. reaffirm his belligerent policy and assumed two of the positions of the fabled monkey: he closed his eyes and his ears to the already substantial beatings of his country.

Many North Americans consider the administration’s handling of the war improper. According to a just-conducted AP-Ipsos survey, 59% disapprove of Bush’s conduct of the war. Fifty percent think that American military action in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism around the world, and 52% say that the United States entered the war in error.

Support is eroding, attitudes are changing dramatically, and the number of people who say the war was a mistake already matches the number that expressed that view in August of 1968, six months after the TET offensive. This was a turning point in the long conflict in Vietnam, a milestone that opened the door to widespread dissent across the North American population.

U.S. Troops Capture a Viet-Cong During the TET Offensive, 1968.

But Bush absolutely insists: "To transform a country that was ruled by an oppressive dictator who supported terror, into a free nation that is an ally in the war on terror, will take more time, and more sacrifice ... ."

To complete this mental snapshot of the American people, an overwhelming number say that those who are critical of the war in Iraq should be permitted to freely express their objections, with nine out of ten people [87%] polled by AP-Ipsos saying that it is OK for them to do so publicly.

There are other survey results Bush refuses to see: public support for the Iraq War is dropping much more rapidly than it did during the 1960s during Vietnam.

All this should raise warning flags for the Republican administration; nevertheless, George W. Bush insists that an immediate retreat of American troops would, “only embolden the terrorists and would make the United States and its allies more vulnerable to attack.” His vain assertion was also in the form of an answer to the request of Cindy Sheehan: "While I am president, we will remain, fight and win the war on the terror."

So Bush ended a week overcome with Bush's stupid optimism and a call for patience with respect to America’s military mission in Iraq, all which goes to show that his vision cannot be reconciled with reality.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara

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