Looking beyond life...

I just can't do it..

President Bush recently asked Americans to "look beyond the bloodshed" for the greater good of the people of Iraq..

I'm sorry - I can't look beyond the 2,319 sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers that have died as a result of an error..

Look beyond the bloodshed??

I can't look beyond the 100k Iraqi men, women and children that have lost their lives in this conflict so far..

Look beyond the bloodshed??

How can I do that?? How am I supposed to do that?? Am I supposed to believe that the Iraqi people are better off now - than what they were going through under Saddam's rule?? What if they aren't better off?? What if they don't have electricity, running water, jobs, schools, and security in knowing that they will not be blown up tomorrow or the next day??

How is it that I'm supposed to look beyond the bloodshed towards the future, Mr. President?? What am I looking beyond towards?? A civil war?? Further American hostilities?? Another 9/11-type attack?? More privacy laws stripped so the government can know what I'm doing watching COPS on TV or by monitoring the movies that appear in my Netflix queue??

How is it that I'm supposed to be looking towards a future that has been completely been diverted by someone who honestly, truly believes that he can tell me how to think, what to believe, and what to say?? This is a better alternative to looking at the bloodshed that continues and will continue thanks in part to President Bush's comment that "some other President will be responsible for getting the troops out of Iraq..."

His actual quote: "That, of course, is objective, and will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq."

He's going to let other generations deal with the mess he started.. He's basically bowing out of it which confirms what a lot of other people have said that President Bush has had no exit strategy from Iraq.. He's washing his hands of it, and saying "someone else can deal with it.." And if we have a President who has thrown in the towel for the last 3 years of his presidency and absolves his responsibilities so "the next guy can take care of it??" What kind of president sends our troops in harms way without an exit strategy?? What kind of president leaves the responsibility of having an exit strategy for the next President who is elected into office?? What kind of president doesn't take the world as a whole and doesn't try to fix the error that he did??

Even after confessing that he had made a mistake by going into Iraq, he remains adamant that we need to remain in Iraq.. On this issue, I do agree in part - but we should not be there alone.. Our troops deserve the best support possible to remedy this conflict as quickly as possible.. We're losing life over there - and I cannot be one of those sheep that wantonly follows this President off the cliff..

I'm sorry Mr. President, I will not look beyond the bloodshed..

I will not look beyond your error that has attributed to the death of 2,319 American lives and tens of thousands of Iraqi people..

I will not look beyond the civil war that was initiated as a direct result of "Operation Iraqi Freedom"

I will not look beyond the intelligence debacle and the endless pursuit to instill your values upon the American people in the name of fear, in the name of values, and in the name of righteousness..

I will not look beyond the isolationism that you continue to employ by not having a multi-national involvement in the building and security of Iraq..

Your policy is flawed..

Your intent may have been admirable at one point in our history, but you lack the resolve to consider any and all options on the table..

Start by getting the support and guidance of the UN..

Start by getting more nations involved in the rebuilding process..

Start by finding Bin Laden like you promised and make him responsible for what happened to the 2,986 lives that were lost on 9/11..

Start by removing the supposed Constitution that was drafted by OUR think tanks and let the Iraqi people draft one to THEIR liking..

Start by not making this an American effort, but a global effort..

Start by convening world leaders to a Terrorism Conference so *really* address the issues of terrorism instead of making it a "you follow us, we'll lead the way" kind of approach..

Start by holding your word that any country that was found to have any dealings with 9/11 that they will be held accountable. If it's just rhetoric then come out and say it's so - disavow the comment and keep to telling the truth..

Start by putting the safeguards and security at our borders, our chemical and nuclear plants, critical areas of our infrastructure..

Start by dismantling Homeland Security and then completely redesign it to accomplish actual security instead of being a vehicle to spy on Americans and an incompetent responder when there is a crisis..

Start by taking responsibility and firing those people who have contributed to the debacle of the Ports deal, the Plame leak, the India nuclear policy just to name a few...

Start by leaving God to being a personal, spiritual journey instead of a politically motivated platform.. All of us can be moral without needing to make it a law that we adhere to the standards of one religion over another.. Let's not become religiously intolerant..

Finally - let's fix what has been broken.. There's so many things that this administration has done - and a lot of people don't understand what has been at play the last couple of years.. The Republicans have lauded themselves as "fixing" what happened from the previous administration.. With what I've seen thus far, I'm completely unimpressed with their performance so far.. They move the scales and adjust the figures so that it covers the downward sloping numbers on the economy, on unemployment, on Medicare and on the budget..

I'm not sold on supporting a Republican, but I am completely sold on getting this current Republican out of office and trying to right the wrongs..

No one will forget 9/11 or the 2,983 lives that were lost that day..

No one will forget the 2,319 American lives or the thousands that are lost currently in Iraq..

No one will forget the reasons we were told we went to war and no one will forget the coverups and silenced media that have been threatened to straighten up their reporting, or be incarcerated..

This is the President we're supporting and I still believe there are better options.. We need a strong country that can tell the difference between errant intelligence and solid intelligence.. We need a strong country that has very strong diplomatic ties and a country running less on the "cowboy attitude.."

Let's fix it..

Let's fix it now..