President Bush said this week that the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq would be “decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq,” making it perfectly clear that he has no intention of bringing the troops home before he leaves office in 2008.
During his weekly radio broadcast, the president repeated the simple mantra that has guided him throughout the war: “We will finish the mission … . There is no peace, there’s no honor and there’s no security in retreat.” When victory is achieved, he said, “our troops will return home with the honor they have earned.”
It’s easy for the president to insist that things are going well in Iraq, that the country is not embroiled in a civil war, that his strategies will eventually lead to victory, and that there is honor to continuing combat no matter how futile it may appear.
It’s not so easy for the troops.
They’re serving multiple tours in Iraq. Some of them have been away from their families for years. More than 2,300 have died, more than 17,000 have been wounded, and now the soldiers still in the field can’t even buoy their spirits with the simple hope that this might be their last tour, because the president has clearly stated that he won’t bring them home during his tenure.
President Bush routinely “acknowledges” the troops, but acknowledgement doesn’t cost him anything. In fact, acknowledging soldiers is politically beneficial to him, because it makes him sound as if he cares about their fate, and his statements resonate with the bulk of Americans who actually do love and support the troops. But if Bush were truly concerned about the soldiers, he might put their health and lives ahead of his fear of being politically embarrassed.
The president doesn’t want to admit that he’s made any mistakes, so he continues to sugar-coat the war with comments such as, “I also remain optimistic because, slowly but surely, our strategy is getting results.”
But most Americans can see that his strategies are not working, and that the price the troops are paying is too high. Bush’s approval rating and support for the war are in the low 30 percent range. Most of us can see that this war was a mistake, and no more American lives should be spent fighting it.
Our soldiers are like brave firefighters who have willingly rushed into a burning building, but unlike firefighters, the troops don’t have a commander who will pull them back when it becomes clear that the building is collapsing around them.
So it’s up to the rest of us to get our soldiers out of Iraq.
We have “supported” the troops since the war began, but aside from putting bumper stickers on our cars, cheering when soldiers are introduced at sporting events and praising their sacrifices in our private conversations, it hasn’t always been clear what actions we could take to truly support the troops.
Now it’s time to act. Call your congressional representatives and tell them that you want Congress to withhold war funding until the president commits to an exit strategy. The Department of Defense executes the president’s policies, so Congress can compel the president to acknowledge reality, by squeezing the Pentagon.
Call Gov. Bill Owens and ask him to speak up on behalf of the members of the Colorado National Guard and reservists who have been sent into combat. These are our co-workers, family members, friends, church members and schoolmates, and we should expect our state government to challenge the efficacy of federal policies whenever Coloradans are sent into combat.
Our troops signed up to fight for all of us, but now it’s time for all of us to fight for them. In this situation, supporting the troops means doing whatever you can to get them out of harm’s way.
Former Bronco Reggie Rivers is the host of “Global Agenda” Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on KBDI-Channel 12. His column appears every Friday.
