Operation Save Your Ass

So tell me, Bush, 'fess up. Is this just another of your PR stunts to boost the poll numbers? This whole Operation Smash'em Up, or whatever the hell your military folk are calling it? A multi-day assault on the city of Samarra, with dozens of American aircraft and hundreds of troops--mostly, we're told, those newly trained Iraqis--supposedly clearing out an insurgent stronghold. The point, I'm assuming, is to offer the American people a dramatic spectacle to prove that we really are winning the war in Iraq--and of course the war on terror--and that the Iraqis are becoming increasingly self-reliant.

Lots of weaponry, then. All the TV footage was graciously provided by the US military, it seems: helicopters swooping in to disgorge their (mostly Iraqi!) forces. Tanks rumbling through the desert. Rockets and mortars flashing like fireworks through the night sky and exploding magnificently in the city. I wouldn't have wanted to be at the receiving end of this arsenal, as I assume a good number of Samarran citizens to have been.

A mini Shock and Awe, then. Only problem, Bush--no insurgents. Well, maybe a few. Prove me wrong, but what I'm hearing this morning is that the resistance has been minimal at best, that most of those taken prisoner in the assault have turned out to be innocent civilians, and that even the weapons caches have been disappointing. Had it been otherwise, the success of your operation would have been trumpeted at much higher volume.

So my skeptical gut tells me that this hyped drama is nothing more than an elaborate and expensive sham to lend weight to your recent speeches, at the risk of countless lives, and staged in the interest of drumming up the rapidly fading support for your war and providing your loyal Republicans with ammunition to wage their 2006 election campaigns.

I saw Cindy Sheehan interviewed on the ABC news this morning, Bush. Remember her? She was not kind to you or your war. Ms. Sheehan ("Mom", as you like to call her), was as skeptical as I am about your current initiative. To me, her simple, heartfelt words were more persuasive than all your speeches, more powerful than all your military shows of force. More and more people are listening to her. I wish you would, too.