After a Thousand, how many more?

As of this day, a thousand American soldiers have died--young men and women not personally connected to Bush or any of his administration's hawks. I want no Americans killed, but, somehow, it does seem fair that if Americans are to go, die, or be maimed in a hopeless, far away from home adventure of militarists in the White House, then those militarists should also know and share the costs as other Americans do, in blood and the agony of loss.

One thousand soldiers killed represents at least a thousand families affected. Those who have gone to war at the behest of a commander in chief who has been so enveloped by men and women who know nothing of real war and death, other than on TV, should not be alone and apart from those who command them into harm's way. Bush, Cheney, and company should have some personal stake--loved ones that can die or be injured--in this war, other than their childish machismo and unearned Texas swagger. They should share in the personal pain of this nation, if, in fact, they have that capacity. And this is especially true since this war is utterly without justification, regardless of how gullible the American people are to the lies and spin of an untoward administration that seeks a glory this nation is not mature or intelligent enough to have.

If the leaders in this administration had loved ones--say the two daughters of President Bush and the one niece of his that are addicted to drugs and alcohol--in this war that could be harmed (more than just having their feelings hurt because someone said that Bush is dumb and should be impeached) Bush, regardless of how the hawks prompt him, would restrain himself from war, especially this ego-war in Iraq. But since all his bad daughters and bad niece are safely at home doing what they do, he has put forth several irrational arguments in favor of an action that will kill 1,000+ American soldiers, wound 6,000+, and kill numerous Iraqis, maimed, and displaced them. And one administration official voiced the mindset of Bush when he said concerning the Iraqis killed, "They don't count!" This is the same attitude white America projected/projects toward Black America--they don't count; this is the same attitude America had toward the Vietnamese--they don't count!

Yes, they count to someone. They have loved ones too; their lives are important too; justice applies to them too! This historical callousness spoken aloud against the Iraqis is really the same callousness held toward all those fighting in this Bush war. And from that callousness the president goes to unfeigned arrogance, as he is reported to have said, "I'm the president; I don't have to justify myself to anybody."

This attitude certainly indicates an insecure and autocratic leader who thinks that he can do whatever he wills without justification to anyone. Such a person is a dangerous, especially since Bush came into office in a questionable way and has the reigns of power and the willingness to use that power to kill, maim, mutilate many Americans and Iraqis.

A thousand American soldiers, most, percentage wise, are Black, Brown, and poor, have died needlessly! Six thousand American soldiers will never walk again or have the activity of their bodies as they once had! Untold thousands of Iraqis have been killed, maimed, crippled, and dispossessed needlessly! And all this in a Bush-war that should have never been started, by a president who should have never been placed into office! For a cause and a threat that never did exist!

This entire war, regardless of the leverage of lies configured by the minds of the hawks of this administration, is a crime against humanity--it violates international law; it violates the UN Charter; it was built up on lies and sustained by lies; Iraqi was never connected to Al Qaeda; and we have killed thousands of innocent people. There shame in this war, not honor.

To Bush and his crew, this is about winning the election, but to those in harm's way, whom he has placed there, it is about their lives. No election should cost the lives of people, but the dead of heart in this administration say, concerning the Iraqis and imply the same concerning the young Americans soldiers, both male and female who have died and been injured, "They don't count." But people do count: they have feelings, they hurt, they love others, and they die. All lives count to someone, and this insatiable thirst for war and blood cannot go on forever. And there must be a day of reckoning in this life or certainly in another one for those who have not counted others as important as themselves.

How long will the American people allow this crime against humanity to continue? There is a very good reason why most of the world thinks that America poses the greatest danger to world peace.

If the American citizens do not throw Bush out of office by a great margin, I and many I know will have no respect for the intelligence of this citizenry. []

Frank Jones