Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January-February 2008, pages 35, 37

Outside the Beltway

Another “Surge” Is Needed—This Time, of Common Sense

By James G. Abourezk

In a book I have been reading, the author included a quote from Thomas Jefferson, which went like this: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

My thoughts immediately went to George W. Bush, who has forced various forms of tyranny over the collective mind of the United States. His initiatives, such as the PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act, the spying on American citizens, all have shredded our Constitution beyond what we can possibly recover when he is gone.

And he has done so, moreover, with the cooperation of Congress. It was one thing to have the Republican Party in control of Congress when he first made his moves to accumulate more and more presidential power. It is surely another to have the Democrats in Congress cower in fear of losing their elections should they try to object to what he is doing.

Habeas corpus is perhaps one of the most protective of rights for American citizens. It allows anyone to question in court their detention by government officials. Should that detention be illegal, the habeas writ allows a judge to examine what has been done and, if he finds the detention to be in violation of the law, he can order the release of the person detained. Someone recently did an analysis of how Bush’s actions are directed not only at “enemy combatants,” but also at American citizens.

What is really frightening is the revelation that almost no one in Congress read the PATRIOT Act before they voted for it. Although not reading unannounced amendments to legislation is common practice, it is more serious when a major piece of legislation is rammed down everyone’s throat. That is a case where at least the congressperson’s staff should have read the bill in order to advise his or her boss on the contents. It may be that Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is the only member of Congress who read the PATRIOT Act before it was rammed through the House.

Now that members of Congress have had time to digest the legislation that strips Americans of their rights, they should be ashamed for not having read such important legislation—much less having voted for it. Despite the unpopularity of the Iraq war with the public, there is a frightening timidity among members of Congress about de-funding the war, which is the only way to end it. The recent refusal of Democratic leaders to even consider the funding bill requsted by Bush is a start. But we’ll see whether or not they can maintain that courage when Bush starts screaming about not supporting the troops.

Almost no one in Congress read the PATRIOT Act before they voted for it.

In my own view, if the Democrats were to announce that they are providing just enough money to transport the U.S. Army back to the United States, they would have a basis for their argument that they are trying to end the war. There is no other way to end it as long as Bush is as truculent as he is.

The Ken Burns documentary “The War” has made me think a great deal about sacrifice, both on the home front and on the battlefield. During World War II everyone was asked to sacrifice—the troops their lives and their limbs, and the civilian public their comforts and their food.

President Bush has very cleverly managed this war so that no one on the home front feels the pain. Aside from the families of the military who are in Iraq, no sacrifice is asked of Americans. There is no draft, so the parents of young men and women have nothing about which to complain. There are no shortages of food or automobiles, or of anything else. Most of us are living well, and that way our president knows we won’t complain. There is thus no danger of outraged parents marching in the streets because their children are being drafted, nor of outraged people who are unable to buy a new car, or whatever pleasure in which they want to participate.

There are people suffering, but, with the exceptions of the families of dead and wounded U.S. soldiers, they’re not found in America. They are found in Iraq, and in Syria. I saw a very disgusting video someone sent to me on the Internet. It was a short clip showing young Iraqi women in Damascus, partially nude, parading themselves as they offer to sell their bodies as their only means of survival. This is unheard of in the Arab world, and is solely a result of Mr. Bush’s war. It’s both digusting and disheartening, as is the thought that our grandchildren will have to pay the money Mr. Bush is now spending, keeping the arms industry rich, as well as his other friends in the oil industry, including Halliburton.

I hope that when someone totes up the cost of this war to our planet, the bill is presented to our president—who seems not to care whom he hurts, just so his objectives are satisfied.

A War Without Public Sacrifice

The fact that he is conducting this war without public sacrifice allows Mr. Bush to swagger up to a microphone and brag about supporting the troops and about taking on the terrorists, and about the never-ending “war on terror,” to which he constantly refers in his speeches. I cannot but think about Mr. Bush’s actions during the Vietnam War, when he ran away to avoid being sent into combat. It is the worst kind of hypocrisy for him to continue to send young Americans to Iraq to die and to lose their limbs—and now, we hear, to commit suicide when they return home. One supposes the suicides occur because these are young Americans who have been taught all their lives that killing is a sin—something in which no one should take part. It is almost too much to send such young Americans to engage in a killing spree and expect them to return mentally healthy.

Mr. Bush constantly urges everyone to “support the troops.” When Gen. David Petraeus was sent to appear before Congress to explain how victory was to be accomplished, that was a case of Mr. Bush hiding behind the general. And when the president talks about supporting the troops, it is another example of him hiding behind them to avoid having to answer the tough question of “why are we doing this?” It is a question that no reporter has dared ask him at one of his infrequent press conferences.

An Unasked Question

In any event, he is smart to avoid answering that question, because the war makes no sense whatever. Sending an army to “fight terrorism” is both unwieldy and unproductive. Terrorists are best weeded out by using good intelligence, and other functions of law enforcement.

What is needed is a “surge” of common sense, on the part of both Congress and the president. Without relying on common sense, we and our descendants are doomed to pay off the huge debt Mr. Bush is building up. As well, we are doomed to have the rest of the world as an enemy camp, as most of the world dislikes our imperial ambitions. Those ambitions are becoming too costly to us all.

James G. Abourezk is a former U.S. senator (D-SD) and founder of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He currently practices law in Sioux Fall, SD.

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