From his latest column in the Austin Chronicle:
Annals of the Wicked
Letters at 3AM
BY MICHAEL VENTURA
Since May 1, when Bush made his carrier landing to announce victory (a stunt that cost the taxpayers $1 million), more American soldiers have been killed in Iraq than during the invasion. In addition, according to the Sept. 1 issue of Newsweek, since May 1 more than 1,000 American troops have been wounded. That issue also reports that our troops are attacked on an average of 15 to 20 times a day. We spend more than a billion dollars a week there, roughly $14 billion since May 1. We'll spend another $14 billion through the end of the year. (The White House hasn't yet told Congress what the invasion cost.) And there's no end in sight.
U.S. troops in Iraq number 138,000, with 34,000 in neighboring Kuwait, plus 10,000 in Afghanistan. If another trouble spot flares up, experts doubt our capacity to respond. And after four months of intensive search we've found no weapons of mass destruction. Aug. 28, Los Angeles Times: "The weapons hunters have yet to find proof that any chemical or biological agents were produced after 1991." Just as the UN said.
We got into this mess because Bush lied about nearly everything, produced no hard evidence about anything, and most Americans chose to believe him anyway.
The following headlines and quotes are from The New York Times unless otherwise noted.
June 17, 2002 -- "Bush to Formalize Defense Policy of Striking First." With virtually no protest in Congress or on the streets, Bush reversed a foreign policy that dated back to 1776. The public's passivity gave him his green light. Everything followed from that.
May 4, 2002 -- "U.S. Says Iraq Is Developing Banned Arms." "Satellite photos provide evidence of long-range missiles, Washington claims." We know now that was a lie.
July 20, 2002 -- "Pentagon Pursues Leak of Anti-Iraq Plan." As early as last summer -- when Bush, Powell, Rumsfeld, and Rice swore they had no plans to attack Iraq -- some honest soul in the Pentagon leaked the plans. Americans ignored the contradictions, the news media didn't investigate much, and protest was next to nil.
Sept. 4, 2002 -- "Bush to Put Case for Action in Iraq." "Administration officials also declared flatly that even if arms inspectors were given unfettered access to Iraq's nuclear sites, Mr. Bush was still committed to the ouster of Mr. Hussein." Bush was set on invasion, inspections be damned. The public's response: business as usual.
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http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2003-09-05/cols_ventura.html
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