Monday morning, President Bush held a news conference to address the war on terrorism, among other less pressing issues. Evidently the “morning-after pill” deserves a position on the same platform as National Security, but I digress. Defending his intent to stay the course in Iraq, the President said, "I can't tell you exactly when it's going to be done," but "if we ever give up the desire to help people who live in freedom, we will have lost our soul as a nation, as far as I'm concerned."
He also promised that, "We're not leaving, so long as I'm the president. That would be a huge mistake."
2,600 dead, 19,000 wounded
Due to lagging recruitment numbers, the minimum recruiting age for the armed forces has been raised from 35 to 41 years. Additionally, minimum test scores were lowered (now, I'm no military strategist, but I doubt the solution to waning enlistment is an older, dumber army). In addition, the Marine Corps is set to enact an involuntary recall of servicemen and women. The Army already has. It makes one wonder, is it really so farfetched to think that reinstatement of the draft could be far behind?
Early on, critics suggested that the war in Iraq could become another Vietnam War. Being a good conservative, I dismissed this silliness as liberal propaganda and shameful scare tactics. I was wrong.
Timelines and estimates
Of course, no rational person thought this war would end quickly but it's been four years. As someone with family serving bravely in Iraq since the day the troops stormed Baghdad, I wonder if we could at least get a ballpark estimate of when we'll have our loved ones home. When can we, at the very least, expect to see things begin to improve? Six months? Two years? Could someone at least tell us that much?
These aren't the ramblings of a dyed in the wool Bush-hater. I'm not an American Apologist. I couldn't care less about the international opinion of my great country. I'm simply an Independent Conservative asking a straight-forward question: If the current strategy isn't working (and by all accounts, it isn't), why are the powers that be so committed to it?
