Honoring Veterans Includes Telling the Truth
    By Scott Galindez
    t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Saturday 12 November 2005

    The Bush administration spin machine is in high gear.

    "The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges," Bush said.

    What about the stakes being too high for our soldiers to fight a war based on lies? Oh, and by the way, it's not just politicians who are saying Bush misled the country, a majority of Americans are saying it.

    Defending the march to war, Bush said foreign intelligence services and Democrats and Republicans alike were convinced at the time that Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader, had weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations, he noted, had passed more than a dozen resolutions citing Saddam's development and possession of such weapons.

    Hmmm, I seem to remember the UN agencies investigating Iraq’s weapons programs reporting that there was no evidence that they had reconstituted the programs. I also remember that there was no vote authorizing the war, because Negroponte and Straw knew they didn’t have the votes.

    So George Bush continues to mislead us. He continues to hide behind the war and attack the patriotism of anyone who questions him. By doing so, he is dishonoring our troops. They deserve the truth, not more lies from those they trusted when they were asked to put their lives on the line.

    This weekend, there are many events honoring those who have been put in harm's way. They put their lives on the line because they believed our leaders would not put them in harm's way unless it was the last resort. Our political leaders failed those who were sent to Iraq. The only way they can truly honor our troops now is to admit their mistakes, bring our troops home, and resign.