I have to admit...Guantanamo does make us look bad.

Fuzzy Math

Here's a recent poll from Washington Post-ABC News on how the war is no longer worth fighting for and also how Rumsfeld should not stay for the second term.

The American people speak and here are the statistics...

Little more than half say the war in Iraq has helped our security but 70 percent feel that "gains have come at an "unacceptable" cost in military casualties". This kind of thing happens in war though so I don't know how reasonable that number is.

But this led 56 percent to conclude that, given the cost, the conflict in Iraq was "not worth fighting, " an eight-point increase from this summer, and the first time a decisive majority of people have reached this conclusion

This poll was taken before the death toll increased today.

The poll also shows that 58 percent of Americans support keeping military forces in Iraq until "civil order is restored," even in the face of continued US causalities. On the question of whether Iraq is prepared for elections next month, 58 percent of respondents believed the violence-plagued country is not ready. Nonetheless, 60 percent want elections to go forward as scheduled.

On Don's Job: 53 percent of Americans disapproved the work performance of Rumsfeld and 52 percent said he should not stay on during Bush's second-term. As many know, he has received a lot of criticism lately.

Democracy as a Theater...we all want to see an election just so we can tell our friends or co-workers...hey, we're almost there (even if it's not true).

Guantanamo Bay Shattered U.S. Image

I knew this would happen once torture accounts were being heard. Bush admitted today that the accounts have shattered our image. No doubt that wrapping a suspect in an Israeli flag and bombarding him with loud music and strobe lights will make Muslims hate America more. Even worse though is the fact that the international community looks at us and asks "Why? Are things like that necessary?" Then we have to justify the actions of our military, which isn't always easy to do especially in a controversial war such as this "war on terror".

Thank God for the Freedom of Information Act. This is one reason that people are able to prove they are wrongfully accused. If this did not exist, there would be no end to this madness where people are tortured and wrongfully accused.

Democracy As a Theater

The leaders in charge sit down. It's Kofi Annan, Allawi, Bush, Blair, Schroeder, Chirac, and Putin. (Any other names that should be included can be added by people who comment--but these people seem to be role players in the electoral process in Iraq right now.) They devise a plan for elections and set a date, Jan 30. Meanwhile, fighting continues. They have to go through with elections. Elections insure a future for Iraq. It creates a precedent that the country can refer to and continue to improve upon. There is a possibility that suicide attacks could prevent the election from completing. But the leaders decide...whatever votes we have we count and we turn over control to that man. Doing so will lead to peace and will allow troops to gradually pull out.

Democracy Theater...The elections weren't ready to go but the show must go on. No compromises even if disaster ensues the region. Universally, a consensus will be met that we go through with the staging of an election to show that democracy can happen in Iraq.

I cannot guess what other leaders are thinking cause they have not played as big of a role as Bush has. But I do think that Bush's ultimate goal at this point is to get our troops back home and I do believe that he is thinking following elections...soldiers are going to be on their way soon.

Deadly Attack

U.S. Suffers Deadliest Iraq Attack, 22 Killed

Highlights from the Incident are as follows

IN MOSUL IRAQ--- A guerrilla attack on a dining tent at a U.S. base in Iraq killed 19 U.S. soldiers and three other people on Tuesday in the deadliest strike on U.S. forces since last year's invasion. U.S. officials initially said a number of rocket and mortar rounds were fired at the base in the northern city of Mosul, but a militant group claimed one of its suicide bombers was behind the attack, in which 57 people were wounded. It's possible that this was a suicide bombing.

Mr President had this to say:

"I want to thank the soldiers who are there, thank those who have sacrificed (in Mosul)," said President Bush, who warned on Monday guerrilla bombers were taking a toll.

"I know a free Iraq will lead to a more peaceful world," said Bush, who paid a Christmas visit to families of some of the 10,000 U.S. wounded in Iraq as a new poll showed most Americans now believed the war was not worth fighting.

This article was found on reuters.com.


OPINION

War will always have a price to pay. Blood will be shed. Money will be wasted or spent. You cannot avoid that. After it is over though, you look over to see if it was worth it or not. And you reevaluate your tactics and your decision to better handle situations in the future. So far, Iraq was a success because we removed the man in charge. But it's also a successful failure (*much like a catastrophic success). If elections do not pull through and happen effectively, America will pay dearly for being unable to see to it that elections succeed. Therefore, if we cannot secure and keep insurgency down prior to the election, the future may not be bright for American warfare in the Middle East.