It's Sunday morning. Just got through reading this op-ed piece about the waste and corruption in Iraq, Bush, and it serves only to increase my anger and despair. It's written by a man who's in a position to know, having observed what he writes about at first hand, as one who has served on the ground with the American forces in Iraq. He describes the level of corruption among the Iraqi security forces as "staggering." It seems that commanders there are pocketing wages for thousands of "ghost" personnel, who exist only in their money-grubbing minds; not only is this costing you (us, Bush) countless millions in cold cash, it's also creating a badly distorted notion of the strength of Iraqi military forces and police. Another massive delusion underpinning your new plan for peace and stability in a country that seems determined not to accept these blessings that you offer them. In addition, Bush, this writer gives a real sense of the extent to which the smuggling and illegal sale of oil, weapons, and reconstruction necessities is undermining efforts to put the country back on its economic feet.
I hear that you don't bother to read the op-ed pages, Bush. I guess it might be understandable for you to avoid pieces like Frank Rich's exquisitely pungent essay, also in this morning's Times. But I wish you'd take a good look at this one, and consider the futility of fighting against these kind of odds. It makes me sick to read. Sick and angry, Bush, that you persist in the arrogant folly of your actions in the Middle East. Clearly, it's something quite different than military action that is needed there.
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And clearly he doesn't want to see it our way, as he has gotten rid of the generals who knew best, they were there for Gods sake! So, now, we get the yes men in charge of this mess, to make it to be a bigger mess... oh joy... Oh, and I was reading in The Scotsman today that Tony Blair is supposedly not going along with Bush. Bush wanted him to send a couple more thousand troops over there, Blair said no;D! That where they are they are training Iraqis to take over, and are going to be bringing parts of thier troops back as each town they are in is able to take care of itself. There apparently will be a significant number of British troops coming home in March. I sure hope he sticks to his guns! [no pun intended] My heart would sing for all the family's that will have thier loved ones back home with them... Leaves Bush pretty isolated doesn't it?
T. Christian Miller, an investigative reporter for The Los Angeles Times. He’s also the author of “Blood Money: A Story of Wasted Billions, Lost Lives and Corporate Greed in Iraq"speaking of wasted money check out this book
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