Abandoning our and the coalition’s efforts to eradicate the Taliban in Afghanistan and restore its economy - after this president ignored the military advisors, as well as the leaders of other countries, who warned him about leaving the country prematurely – and as a result, the Taliban is regaining much of the territory in Afghanistan and, with that, shatters HOPES of the people. But Bush wanted Iraq, so he marginalized anyone who disagreed with his decisions and surrounded himself with the “yes men”. (And what about his promise to pursue those who committed 9/11? There is what he says, and there is what he does.)

Those who demanded that we go into Iraq with far greater number of troops - to restore and maintain the security after we win the war - were left on the sidelines, making more room for his cronies - “yes men”.
Instead of securing Iraq, to allow its people the ability to live in a country without fear for their lives, he chose to give Iraqis their first government amidst a chaos - an army of politicians who are only too eager to get as much power as they can during the times of instability; not excluding the policy of continuing this bloodshed, so they could establish their own militias and, with their help, a greater control over the region.

It took a “real soldier” to confront the secretary of defense and demand a better armor protection, to bring attention to the known fact that many of our soldiers had to buy their own body armor, as well as use the scrap metal they found on the ground to protect their vehicles, - that was well into the second year of this war! Yet, so called ‘patriots’ - servants of this president - would not even acknowledge that instead of supplying our military with the best equipment that our technology allows, he demanded a tax break for the nation (for the big business, to be honest), while sending the troops to fight a war without the adequate supplies and numbers. By the way, Rumsfeld’s reply was: "You go to war with the army you have." Well, he is right - if you are attacked, but we were not. This was a planned war, if it can be called that.

Whenever reporters ask our soldiers for the reasons that prevent us from rebuilding Iraq and bringing some semblance of order to the region, the answer is always: “We do not have enough troops”. Yet, it took this president 3 years of denial (“we have enough troops in Iraq” and “we are making progress”) to get to the point where he insisted on the “troops surge”- 3 years too late.

On the final note, almost 6 years after the 9/11 attack, our borders are still unprotected, and this president refuses to put enough military personnel to discourage this unobtrusive crossing, which he could do with a simple order – the way he pretended to by putting only 6,000 troops there, instead of 30,000; his buddies need a cheap labor and he will do all in his power to supply that. (And what about his promise to protect the safety of our nation? There is what this president says, and there is what he does.)

So how can we win this war when our nation is divided into two main groups: Those who believe that we should mind our own business and let the rest of the world do as it pleases (as if we live on another planet and the consequences of what happens on the other side of the world will not affect us); and the ‘patriots’ – who will ignore the crimes of this government and follow their leader into the abyss, hauling the rest of us with them.

Until decency is muted, evil will reign