Call a Spade a Spade--Criminal

Forty-one months after the United States entered World War II, we had achieved victory in Europe. We've been in Iraq for over half that period. What reasonable person would say we have reached the halfway point in Iraq? --Neil Abercrombie and Dennis J. Kucinich, USA Today May 16, 2005

I saw Dennis Kucinich speak in Laguna Beach during the presidential campaign. He was coherent, he clearly delineated the issues of the Iraq war and the economy, and he posed definite substantial solutions--I learned from what he had to say. The two men who wrote the column quoted above--Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee; Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio, is ranking member of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations—are dedicated to supporting our troops by bringing them home from foreign occupations and dangerous futile missions.

The analogy to WWII should not be taken lightly, nor should the cost in dollars and lives be minimized despite the Iraq colonialization not being a “world war.” The congressmen also make the case of Iraq turning into Vietnam:

We feel this course, with its echoes of Vietnam, is unsustainable. It has already added $200 billion to our national debt and costs U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion per month. It jeopardizes the strategic interests of the United States, particularly in Asia and the Pacific. It alienates allies in the Muslim world and elsewhere, hindering efforts to create a united global front against al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

41 percent of Americans think the war in Iraq is "worth fighting" and only 42 percent think it's going well. Americans can’t sleep forever and assume this foreign war is not affecting every one of our lives. Men like Abercrombie and Kucinich appeal to the rationality and morality of their fellow citizens. It is about time Americans recognize Bush’s policies as criminal, and stop verbally tiptoing around the issues. Our lives, liberty, and prosperity are at stake.