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On July 30th, six more U.S. soldiers were killed in George W’s Iraq debacle. They hailed from California, Florida, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington State.
July 30th was a memorable date in Iraq, not only because it marked the 3,642nd death among U.S. service members sent there by Bush, but also because it marked the start of the Iraqi parliament’s monthlong summer recess. Yes, in the midst of a bloody civil war, with our troops trapped in the middle, Iraq’s 275-member Council of Representatives is blithely suspending its work on the country’s political crises… and taking an August vacation.
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“It’s 130 degrees in Baghdad in August” rationalized Bush spokesman Tony Snow. Maybe Tony hasn’t heard that our troops will be hot, too, patrolling the deadly streets in full gear, enjoying none of the air-conditioned comforts the parliament receives.
Well, explained the representatives, we are making a sacrifice by taking only one month off, rather than the two months originally scheduled. Sure you are – maybe you could tell that to the families of the six soldiers who died on July 30th, or the seven soldiers who died the next day… and so on through August.
Incredibly, the Bushites keep trying to excuse the parliament’s unconscionable hiatus. Ryan Crocker, George W’s handpicked man in Baghdad, cautioned the U.S. media to realize that Iraqi leaders have different expectations of progress than Americans do: “The Washington clock is running a lot faster than the Baghdad clock is,” said Crocker.
But it’s their country not ours; their war, not ours. We ought to be operating on the clock that matters – the one tolling the sacrifices of so many American men and women in a political war that the Iraqi government won’t solve… and we can’t. The clock has run out. Bring ‘em home.
“Iraq Coalition Casualty Count,” icasualties.org, August 3, 2007