Bush and Cheney: War Worth Other Peoples’ Sacrifices

As the count of Iraq fatalities reached 4000 this past weekend, President Bush made a brief statement at the end of his visit to the State Department about those who paid the ultimate price:

…one day people will look back at this moment in history and say, thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come; that I have vowed in the past, and I will vow so long as I’m President, to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain, that, in fact, there is a outcome that will merit the sacrifice that civilian and military alike have made; that our strategy going forward will be aimed at making sure that we achieve victory and, therefore, America becomes more secure and these young democracies survive, and peace more likely as we head into the 21st century. [emphasis added]

As I have heard and read this statement a few times, I can’t help but think about a wedding. This summer, down at the Crawford ranch, President Bush and his wife will have the joy of seeing one of their daughters married in what I assume will be a lovely ceremony. They will look forward to family gatherings, future grandchildren and the continuation of their family’s linkage to power. And as I think about this wedding and the joyous times that will follow, I can’t help but wonder about all of the parents who will never get to see their sons or daughters married, who will not have grandchildren to look forward to. I think of the husbands and wives who now would be in the most active times of their lives, instead looking at taking care of their spouse who has suffered from serious injuries in Iraq — often major head and/or brain injuries — for the decades to come. And as I think of these people, and that wedding, I can only ask the President, “What makes you think that you are the one to judge what ‘merits the sacrifice’ that these people have made?”

This is a continuing theme for Bush — that history will prove the sacrifice was worth the goal. In his statement above he mentions America’s security and the future of the young democracies. But in the case of security, it is clear now, and the intelligence told us then, that Iraq was no threat to our security. As for the young democracies, I don’t believe that American citizens agreed to sacrifice lives so that we could support some country’s experiment with system of government.

The two stories of our leaders are now well-known. Somehow, some way, George W. Bush, son of the politically-connected George H.W. Bush and grandson of a former senator, jumped to the top of the list of those trying to get into the Texas Air National Guard back in 1968. This was a time when getting into the Guard meant avoiding Vietnam. There are also questions as to whether Bush fully completed his duties as a member of the unit.

Bush went on to a Harvard MBA, a failed run for Congress, a couple of failed oil businesses, and then he became the front man for investors who purchased the Texas Rangers baseball team. All of these “achievements” came to him through connections and class status. Even his failed attempts did not mean long-term sacrifice, as the family’s wealth and name kept him in good stead. It could be argued that his biggest personal crisis was when he was battling the demons of alcohol (and probably drugs) and he has overcome those as far as we know. As the public face of the baseball ownership group he became well known enough to run for Governor, though he wasn’t involved in the real day-to-day operations of the team. Again, sacrifice is not something that Bush has really ever known.

Vice-President Cheney applied for, and received five deferments from the draft, until he was 26 and was no longer eligible for Selective Service. In a comment to the Washington Post in 1989, while being considered to be Secretary of Defense, he stated, “I had other priorities in the 60’s than military service.” One of those priorities seemed to be trying to take advantage of his student deferment as long as possible, taking six years to complete a degree. His last deferment was due to his being a new father. It is difficult to think about all those new fathers in Iraq, missing months of their childrens’ lives, when considering that Cheney used it as a reason to avoid the draft.

When asked about the 4000 fatality milestone, Cheney remarked:

“The president carries the biggest burden, obviously… He’s the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm’s way for the rest of us.”

Two comments about this: First, the idea that the President, this President, somehow has a burden larger than the family members grieving for their dead or caring for their injured, is both arrogant and ludicrous. Bush may feel burdened, but that weight on his shoulders sure does not seem to affect either his actions or decisions. The second aspect of the comment is the emphasis on the all-volunteer military, as if this justifies their sacrifices for the “Deferment Class” that Cheney, and Bush, represent. One would think that being volunteers, we should treasure their patriotism that much more rather than try to make sure their sacrifice is justified.

To be fair, while Cheney has been politically connected and has benefit from those connections, he did not gain them through his family name or wealthy status. He was an intern for a member of Congress and then worked for Don Rumsfeld in the Nixon White House. He used his connections to show he was capable and thus became Chief of Staff to President Ford. He was then elected to Congress, rose to second highest Republican in the House, Became Secretary of Defense under the first Bush, and followed that with his enriching experience with Halliburton. While in many ways self-made, again there is nothing in his history that would make one think that Cheney understands the true concept of sacrifice. In fact, he seems to have tried to avoid getting anywhere near putting himself on the line.

On the occasion of the 4000th casualty, the New York Times has four pages of photos of the most recent 1000 Iraq casualties. In addition, a front page article discusses the emails home from six fallen soldiers. Excerpts form these notes give the reader some idea of what the soldier was thinking. Juan Campos wrote to his wife:

Hey beautiful well we were on blackout again, we lost yet some more soldiers. I cant wait to get out of this place and return to you where i belong. I dont know how much more of this place i can take. i try to be hard and brave for my guys but i dont know how long i can keep that up you know. its like everytime we go out, any little bump or sounds freaks me out. maybe im jus stressin is all. hopefully ill get over it….

you know, you never think that anything is or can happen to you, at first you feel invincible, but then little by little things start to wear on you…

Juan Campos died on June 1, 2007, one month after a home leave. Do you think Bush and Cheney truly comprehend this kind of sacrifice? I know that while I certainly feel for them and their families, I can not honestly put myself in the shoes of these soldiers and families. And I would never be one who could judge whether or not their sacrifice was “worth it.”

But as Bush and Cheney declare that these lives were not lost in vain, they are depending on some bizarre, perceived historical judgment. Somehow, No Weapons of Mass Destruction; No Al Qaeda in Iraq until the U.S. invasion; Disastrous decisions on initial troop levels, disbanding the army, and de-Baathification, alienating most of our allies; Squandering the good will towards the U.S. after September 11th; Taking resources away from the battles in Afghanistan and Pakistan that are actually about Al Qaeda; Taking resources away from Afghanistan thus allowing the Taliban to re-emerge — somehow all these will be overlooked by history because there will be this democratic oasis in the Middle East.

Count me as a skeptic. And even if that somehow was the eventual outcome of all this, was it still worth the sacrifice of those lives of the American soldiers, the lives of their families who mourn or care for the injured, the lives of the soldiers and families from other countries, and of course, the people of Iraq? Bush and Cheney say yes — but really, what is their point of reference?

So as the wealthy, the connected, and the lucky gather in Crawford for the wedding this summer, I am sure that they will think that all this was worth the sacrifices that those other people had to make. As they dance, eat and drink they will toast the soldiers in the field, and those who have paid the ultimate price, thanking God that they don’t have to make those sacrifices themselves.

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