So what do we have to show

for this "nexus" thus far? One al Qaeda leader received medical

treatment in Iraq. Still no evidence of any collaboration between Saddam

and the al Qaeda terrorists. None. Nada. Zip. Nothing.

What nobody has mentioned since

the war began is this nexus as our reason for war, and now the seeming

complete absence of it. My conservative friends keep telling me that George

Bush knows something, he just can't tell us. They insist he would never

start a war just to get even, or to attempt some cynical ploy to keep

his poll numbers high, or to appear to be the firm leader in charge. No,

George Bush had to have a reason!

Well, I'm sure he had

a reason, but I'm equally sure it wasn't the one expressed to

the American people or the world.

Maybe his top advisors were

shooting from the hip. Iraq has chemical and biological weapons and is

giving them to terrorists. Iraq is working on nuclear weapons and will

have one in a couple years. Our troops will be welcomed as liberators.

It was all wrong, it was all

misleading, and I believe it was all very purposeful. Bush is trying to

blame it on the CIA and other intelligence-gathering agencies. What we

see in hindsight is the weakness of the evidence, the apparent desire

to ignore that which contradicted, and to overemphasize any lead that

supported the administration's position.

What we have now is the usual

claptrap, blaming the "liberal" media for not bringing out all

the good things happening in Iraq. To a degree, they're right.

Americans are a resourceful

people and if anyone can rebuild Iraq it's us. I'm sure they

are getting the electricity on and building schools, and putting in lovely

wastewater treatment plants.

But pardon us if we're

a little concerned about the ongoing murder of our troops. Excuse us if

we're just a little peeved about the men already lost in a war we

did not need to fight. Forgive us for asking why we need to expend our

resources here in what has become a magnet for disgruntled Muslims from

all over the world.

George W. Bush, the brave draft

dodger had somebody land him on a carrier so he could announce the end

of hostilities, and as an aside, mention how much he missed flying. My

thought at the time was that perhaps he could go back and finish his flying

tour with the National Guard (he flew one year and owed five). When informed

that various groups were assembling to attack U.S. forces he valiantly

told them (from the exposed position of the oval office): Bring it on.

And they have.

It seems Mr. Bush has about

25 percent of the voting population in this country no matter what he

does (that number might be larger around here). These are the people who

affectionately call him "W," assume he is aware of a threat

he's not telling us about, think he's a man of integrity, spend

a lot of time thinking about their hatred of all things Bill Clinton,

and are essentially politically brain dead.

Bush figures he can capture

the other 25 percent with the $200 million in bribes about to be handed

out by the major corporations and wealthy recipients of his governmental

largesse. He will do this through a campaign of misleading statistics

and scare tactics. It will be accomplished much like the scare campaign

leading to the invasion of Iraq: half-truths, innuendo, outright lies

served up to people who want to believe.

For anyone who has a loved

one serving in Iraq, I believe your soldier is doing their duty following

the legal orders of the President (again with the nod of a cowardly Congress).

It is we, the American public who have failed them in allowing this to

proceed as it has.

Mr. Bush's "coalition"

now consists of 150,000 Americans, 20,000 British, a Polish janitor, a

Rumanian shoe clerk, a Czech streetcar operator, and a Scottish terrier

named Bobbi.

David Gergen, former presidential

advisor, thinks we ought to make the hard choice and insert more troops.

He doesn't think the war was necessary, but we can win with a greater

effort. Sounds a great deal like the genesis of the build-up in Vietnam.

Please, just another 100,000 men and we can win the hearts and minds of

these people!

We owe Iraq NOTHING. The conflict

has removed a dictator and put in its place great uncertainty about certain

aspects of his former WMD programs. It has improved our security not one

iota, while claiming the lives of hundreds of American heroes. We continue

to expend great amounts of treasure while reducing services to our own

citizens.

If the U.N. wants this mess,

let them have it! Write in the sand, "No Saddam or we'll be

back," but let's get the hell out and use the military for our

security, not George Bush's poll numbers.

And let's get rid of George

Bush as soon as we legally can. He is not worthy of power. He should go