All Aboard, The Bullshit Express

Bill Moyer, 73, wears a "Bullshit Protector" flap
over his ear while President George W. Bush
addresses the V FW (AP Photo)

President George W. Bush is shoveling it this week. This Tuesday in Donnelly, Idaho-Dubya addressed the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) saying that anti-war protesters such as Cindy Sheehan, who want U.S. troops brought home immediately, are "advocating a policy that would weaken the United States." Bush made these remarks outside of an exclusive resort where he is currently vacationing. So, this is a vacation from his vacation? I know it's tough watching people die for your lies. Or perhaps he heard big bad scary Cindy Sheehan is coming back to Crawford to resume her protest of this war. Or maybe Bush heard his approval rating is now at 36%-the same as his illegal war.

On his Saturday radio address Bush said the United States is fighting "terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world." No, you created terrorism in Iraq- and you placed only a handful of soldiers in Afghanistan-where our real enemy dwells. Had we used the massive force we used in Iraq, to find Osama Bin Laden these past FOUR years, we would have had him by now. Don't you wonder why we have spent billions of dollars and thousands of lives on a bogus invasion against a country that didn't attack us on 9/11 and kill close to 3,000 Americans?

Bush delivered his remarks in his weekly radio address and former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia spoke in the weekly Democratic radio response. W noted that the four-year anniversary of 9/11 is approaching, said "since that day, we have taken the fight to the enemy," saying the country has upended "terror cells and their financial support networks" and have taken insurgents on "in foreign lands before they can attack us here at home. Our troops know that they're fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere to protect their fellow Americans from a savage enemy." Right, so again England and Spain weren't attacked on their own soil. It was just people who hate trains, not Al Qaeda.

Okay, make sure your boots are on, W went on to shovel: "They know that if we do not confront these evil men abroad, we will have to face them one day in our own cities and streets, and they know that the safety and security of every American is at stake in this war, and they know we will prevail," Bush said. Cleland, who came home from Vietnam a triple amputee, said that the U.S. military must give the troops what they need to win or get out of Iraq. "I learned in Vietnam that the best way to support our troops is to either give them the forces and equipment needed to win or bring them home so we can care for those who have borne the battle," he said. Critics say the administration has not properly equipped troops and underestimated the number that would be necessary to fight.

Cleland went on to say: 'Miscalculations' rampant" the "administration needs to step up the plate...it's time to face the truth. It's time for a strategy to win in Iraq or a strategy to get out."
He said the administration miscalculated the number of troops needed to fight, saying "we don't have the forces there to make it secure." Bush, he said, sloughed off the advice the "top military brass who said that at least 500,000 troops were needed to secure Iraq. The president committed only one-fifth of that force to the war." Currently, Cleland said, the military, including the National Guard and Reserves, is struggling because of this. Service members are returning for more tours and the casualties are growing, with almost 2,000 service members dead and more than 15,000 wounded. Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre who did attack our country on September 11, 2001 are still on the loose."

Another miscalculation Bush made was that he declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1, 2003, Cleland said. "This judgment was wrong. Major combat is not over. The cost has been extremely bloody for this nation." Cleland also criticized the administration's budget for veterans, arguing that "at least $3.5 billion more is needed. We should be expanding V.A. healthcare -- especially counseling for veterans and their families dealing with the emotional aftermath of war." Couldn't have said it better myself. I hate to tell him, but the Bush Administration just announced the closure of the Walter Reed hospital.