Failure to Communicate

An Open Letter to the President

Dear Mr. President,

I listened intently to your speech last night, waiting patiently for clarity, and some indication that you finally understand what you’ve done by sending American troops into Iraq. I waited and waited for you to reveal the logic behind your actions. I waited to see you return to the realm of sound thinking about the way we, as a country, deal with the rest of the world.

Instead, with mind firmly planted in the old west, you handed us more platitudes, lies and denials fueled by the religious fervor of your arrogance. The smugness with which you have tried to sell this travesty to the American people is still very much in evidence.

You just don’t get it. You still refuse to face the reality of your actions. You are going ahead with sending more troops into danger, despite the recommendations of your generals, whom you’ve now replaced with puppets. You have turned your back on the Baker-Hamilton commission and their recommendations for getting us out of this trouble. You have steadfastly refused the counsel of the United States Congress, circumventing them and bypassing the Constitution at every given opportunity.

Sir, you were elected President, not Emperor of the United States. The last King George lost, and you will too. The difference is that he didn’t take us down with him, but you might accomplish the destruction of America, if you continue down this perverse path. History will not treat you well. Your legacy is in shambles.

You say that you are fighting the war on terror, keeping it away from American shores. I understand the move into Afghanistan. I understand going after Osama Bin Laden. It makes sense to go after the people who have tried to harm us. I even understand the recent retaliation bombings in Somalia, albeit late in coming.

But your move to Iraq and your wrong headed decision to stay there boggles the brain. What are you thinking?

There was no Al Quaida in Iraq before you invaded. Now the whole country has been turned into a terrorist practice ground ready for export to the rest of the world.

There were no weapons of mass destruction.

The man who tried to kill your Dad has been hanged.

Your policy of forcing democracy with the business end of a gun has not worked.

You haven’t tried diplomacy and you should. It served your father well. Maybe you should ask Dad for some help.

The new Iraqi government is a sham. Your puppet, Maliki, is a joke and unable or unwilling to confront the Shia death squads that are dominating the streets of Baghdad.

You asked for more money, a billion dollars more, to rebuild and restructure Iraq. This after you’ve already poured billions into the country and your cronies' coffers for the past four years to do this very thing.

Yet, the people still don’t have the necessary comforts of safety, electricity, and water.

You want to rebuild a country when you can’t even rebuild Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina.

I guess what scares me most are your blatant threats against Iran and Syria. Threats such as the ones you issued should only be made from a position of power. We have none. Our dog in this fight is the little one in the corner, not the pit bull with the big teeth.

You have taken us from being the one true superpower to a shadow of our former competence.

We don’t have the troops to open another front in your war on the middle east. Some of your generals have recently asked for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," thereby bolstering military numbers and enlistments, while providing more cannon fodder for your fatal dream of a democratic middle east.

Your mea culpa comes four years and 3000-plus lives too late. How many more are going to die for your ego and your perceived legacy?

You have ruined this country financially for years to come. We are a debtor nation in debt to China which is slowly buying us one highway at a time.

My fervent hope is that Congress will finally stand up to you by refusing to support this death march that you call a surge.

Saner heads are needed now. You, Mr. President, and your invisible vice president, need to step aside and let more rational people take over, before you take us from civil war in Iraq to global World War III. A war that I fear, given the current climate, we may not win.


With sadness and little respect,

Jo Anne Moore