The Truth About Iraq
MoveOn wants it. My "personal message" is in italics.
TO: President Bush
CC: Senators, and Representatives
FROM: (Your Name and Email)
SUBJECT: Level With Us On Iraq
__________Dear President Bush,
When Donald Rumsfeld asked the tough questions about metrics for success in Iraq, he was not portrayed as a weak Secretary of Defense. He was doing his job. His patriotism and leadership were not question. When we the people question your plan in Iraq, we are not being unpatriotic. We are doing our job of holding you accountable for your actions and your plans.
When you give us sound bites like that it's better to fight in Baghdad than in Chicago, I can only wonder exactly how Iraq was going to invade the United States. There has been no evidence found that has corroborated your assertion that Iraq had sponsored terrorist acts against the United States of America.
The world needs less failed states Mr. President. Your plan for Iraq, whatever it is, is clearly not working. If staying the course means Iraq falls further into chaos and further into the control of terrorist organizations, you will bear the brunt of the blame. You have not be able to see that a problem exists with your Iraq strategy. Therefor you have done nothing to fix the problem except to say that everything is fine and that there is no reason to change course. The buck stops with you Mr. President.
The world is not made of binary decisions Mr. President. It's not simply a matter of siding with 'good' or 'evil', as you like to put it. It's about executing a plan that will work to accomplish goals that will protect America. At this, Mr. President, you are failing the American public.
You say "Our strategy is succeeding," and Iraq "is headed toward democracy... Freedom is on the march."
Yet the CIA's July 2004 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) reportedly says the possible scenarios range from "an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous" -- a quagmire -- to civil war.
This mission is not accomplished. More than 1,000 of our troops have been killed in Iraq, with no end in sight.
You owe us the truth about Iraq. Release the National Intelligence Estimate.
Sincerely,
Patrick Berry
