The Last Hurrah

So the President wants to get more troops in and go storming through Iraq. That doesn't sound like a bad idea, but only 20,000? That's not a storm, it's a shower.

I'm sick of this war. It's been going on for over five years. World War II didn't last that long, for crying out loud. I get heartsick at the photos of all those young people in our military who have been killed, each of them someone's son or daughter, someone's sibling, someone's friend, and often someone's sweetheart or spouse and someone's father or mother. Yet we've been plugging along, and the number of dead is fast approaching (if it hasn't already surpassed) the number of people killed in the Twin Towers alone.

He stated our involvement would not be open-ended, but didn't say how long our commitment would be. I'm sure he knows that he needs to have this wrapped up before the elections of 2008. Not so much for himself, since he can't run again anyway; but to save his party from losing to the Democrats and to give himself a legacy.

And if he plans to do a Nixon and prolong the war until a few months before the 2008 elections, I hope that people are smart enough to recognize that for what it is - a political ploy at the expense of American lives.

Personally, I don't think he's got even a remote shot at making much impact with 20,000 more troops. That's like Popeye eating one forkful of spinach.