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Thursday, 18 January 2007 |
Bush’s new plan ignores national public opinion
For over three years, American politics have been controlled by the war in Iraq – a war that nearly 60 percent of Americans believe is not worth fighting, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Last week marked a turning point in the war as President Bush decided to send an additional 21,500 troops into Iraq.
Unfortunately, this turning point is for the worst.
The new plan has faced appropriate criticism by both Democrats and
Republicans who demand to know how the new troops will help the
situation.
Despite the 132,000 troops currently stationed there, daily insurgency
attacks have increased from 14 per day in February 2004 to 185 per day
currently, according to The Brookings Institution’s Iraq Index.
Furthermore, additional troops will not help either the American or Iraqi economies.
The American cost for the six-year war on terror is expected to exceed
the cost of the Vietnam War, which is equivalent to $662 billion in
2007, according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
The $505 billion already spent or approved has already plunged the economy into a huge deficit.
In Iraq, 40 percent of people holding professional occupations left
since the war began, and the unemployment rate has risen from 27
percent to 60 percent.
How is sending over 20,000 more troops going to reduce these trends?
The answer is, it won’t.
During the course of the war, an increased American presence has continued to correlate with escalated violence and mayhem.
The chaos in Iraq can subside, but the answer will not be found in President Bush’s nationalistic war strategies.
The answer lies within the Iraqi people. Americans must learn, contrary
to the popular stereotype, that not all Muslims are dangerous.
Iraqis should be trusted to run their own country just as Americans are.
“Democracy is not an export commodity but must be achieved by each
nation, largely on its own,” Abraham F. Lowenthal, president of the
Pacific Council on International Policy, said.
America’s political agenda needs to heed this advice.
Students, at the very least, need to educate themselves about the war –
a war that will be forever known as the Vietnam of our generation.
In the recent General Election, Democrats took control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Though this should have been a clear message to President Bush
regarding America’s attitude about Iraq, Bush’s new plan shows his
disregard.
However, it does not mean that the elections did nothing. Much of the
reason for the Democrats’ success in the November 2006 elections is
because of opposition to the Iraqi War.
As students and American citizens, we should at least keep faith that
our vote means something in the course of American politics.
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