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NATIONAL
DEFENSE & HOMELAND SECURITY
IRAQ
The unilateral actions of the
Bush Administration have weakened
long-developed alliances with Europe and other friendly nations around
the world, making us less secure. Bush portrays the "coalition"
that went to war in Iraq as an equal partnership between many nations,
while in actuallity it was 99% American forces and money that conducted
that war.
Bush seems oblivious to the fact
that the UN was created, largely by the United States, in order to foster
democracy worldwide, and to create a method for resolving conflicts
without resorting to war--so as to insure national security.
Bush is also dismissive of NATO, the alliance that successfully defeated
communism in the Soviet Union, and still has a large role to play in
our security--if Bush doesn't throw it away. The nature of the war on
terror makes allies and alliances even more important than in a conventional
war. Only by working together can we insure security.
By the Administration's own admission,
there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden,
the one we should have spent the last 3 years pursuing. Not only was
there no connection, Hussein feared Muslim extremists. Before the war,
Iraq was one country in the Middle East where we could be fairly certain
there were no Al-Qaeda.
It's not just that no WMDs have
been found. The cost of the war was greatly underestimated, against
the objections of many informed sources. The number of troops needed
for post-war Iraq was greatly underestimated, against the advice of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Not just underestimating, Administration
officials from Bush to Cheney to Rumsfeld openly mocked those whose
opinions differed from theirs on these vital points. Now we find that
our generals were right, and the civilians in the Administration were
wrong. We need leadership that is smart enough to let the professionals
do their job--especially in regards to the military.
The way we have removed
Saddam Hussein from power is similar to buying a new car for a million
dollars. Is the new car better than our old car? Certainly. Was it worth
a million dollars? Probably not, because we've now found out that our
old car's engine isn't blown like the salesman said, it just needed
an oil change.
FAIR PAY FOR SOLDIERS AND GUARDSMEN
STOP CUTTING VETERAN PROGRAMS
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