It's been over 4 years now since we went to "war" against "terror," whatever that means exactly. At this point in World War II, which George W. Bush has stated is analogous to the current "war" we're in, the United States had:
1) Defeated Nazi Germany
2) Defeated Imperial Japan
3) Emerged victorious as the unrivaled superpower in the world
4) Captured and prosecuted Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg
5) Established the United Nations
6) Freed the last Japanese-Americans from internment camps
7) Ended wartime rationing of food and other materials
8) Created the International Monetary Fund and World Bank
Today, more than 4 years and 2 months since 9/11 -- this generation's Pearl Harbor -- what have we accomplished?
1) Failed to fully defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan
2) Failed to fully defeat Iraq
3) Weakened our international standing and tarnished our reputation around the world
4) Failed to capture Osama bin Laden, his top lieutenant (Ayman al-Zawahiri), or Iraqi arch-terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Also, failed to conduct a warm crimes trial against former Ba'ath Party leaders of Iraq, in large part because of the inability to provide security for such a trial inside that country.
5) Dissed the United Nations and presented false information on Iraqi WMD to the U.N. Security Council.
6) Violated our American ideals by holding prisoners without charge and without the most basic legal rights under the American system of law. Also violated our Americans ideals by running a secret string of detention/torture centers, not to mention Abu Ghraib.
7) Failed to ask for any sacrifice from the American people - no higher taxes to pay for this "war," no rationing, no draft, no nothing. Just go shopping and enjoy yourselves, even though we're supposedly in a struggle for our lives against an evil, monomaniacal opponent that wants to nuke us.
8) Done nothing to address the "root causes" of terrorism; trashed anyone who would even SUGGEST that there are "root causes" as an Osama-loving, blame-the-victim traitor.
Compare these two lists. Notice a difference here, besides one being a long string of successes and the other being a sickening series of miserable failures?
First list: we were serious about World War II, conducted ourselves accordingly, and kicked ass. Second list: we have NOT been serious about the inelegantly-named "GWOT" (Global War on Terror), and boy does it show! Of course, in World War II we had a REAL leader - Franklin Delano Roosevelt - as Commander in Chief. Today, we have...well, whatever he is, he's certainly not a real leader, that's for sure!
Anyway, I'm sick of this shit. We are obviously not serious here. So here's the deal, as far as I'm concerned If this is NOT a real war, let's get the hell out of it now! On the other hand, if this IS a real war, then let's start treating it like one.
*Raise taxes to pay for it -- or at the minimum reverse the insane tax bonanza that the Republicans gave to the top 1% of Americans the past 5 years.
*Institute a draft to keep the armed forces from falling apart and to beef up our "homeland security." Spend a lot more money on "first responders" and first-line defenses.
*Call on Americans to sacrifice; no more "business as usual" and ridiculous "go shopping" messages.
*Address the "root causes" of terrorism, including the Arab-Israeli conflict - don't just think you can bomb 'em all to Hell! Get serious about getting off of Saudi oil imports.
*Stop supportimg repressive, torturing, dictatorial regimes in the name of this "war."
And most of all:
That's right, I'm serious. If this is a war, I want the REPUBLICAN Congress: a) to tell us who the freakin' enemy is and b) to declare war on them, per Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution ("The Congress shall have the power to declare war").
If the REPUBLICAN Congress is unwilling to do this, then obviously it has abdicated its responsbility under the U.S. Constitution and is not an institution that should be taken seriously. If the REPUBLICAN Congress can't even bring itself to do its duty under the Constitution in a supposed "global war," then why on earth doesn't it just admit that it's no more than a rubber stamp for King Bush and be done with it? Finally, if the REPUBLICAN Congress can't get its act together, 4 years after 9/11, and declare war on our enemies, then what's it even doing there? That is, aside from eating up our hard-earned tax dollars, of course, and passing huge, pork-laden monstrosity bills?
The bottom line is this: