I suppose the war’s been on my mind all day. I’ve posted this and that, but I haven’t gotten at what’s troubled me about it so much today – even more than other days. I know it was the letter from my friend about betraying our "commitment" to the Iraqi people. I don’t want to leave the Iraqi high and dry any more than anyone else. But I sure don’t want us to continue the kind of insanity this war has been for the last five years. I just couldn’t figure out what had me tangled about it.
On the news, they were taking about the [historic] meeting between the U.S. and Iranian Diplomats today in Baghdad, then they had the U.S. Diplomat on for an interview. He started taking about getting confrontive about Iran supplying the Terrorists, Iran training the Terrorists, the U.S. wants to see "action, not words." I don’t know if the Iranians are doing those things. They say they’re not. That’s not the point of why I’m writing. When I heard the American Diplomat talking "tough," I knew what was bothering me all day today.
I heard the music of Dick Cheney in that Diplomat’s voice. I heard that same crazy, paranoid, get tough, accusing hostility that is in his speeches and in his television interviews. It doesn’t matter whether he’s right or wrong [though he’s usually wrong]. It’s that fixed hatefulness, that dismissive mean-ness that chills me to the bone. What’s had me tangled all day is that the only thing I know about Iraq is that I don’t want George Bush or Dick Cheney involved, no matter what we end up doing – and I heard Cheney’s voice coming out of that Diplomat’s mouth. Bush is something of a self-justifying fool, but Cheney is a crazy, paranoid person.
So long as they’re involved, it’s hopeless. Period. Whatever we do, we need sane people doing it. I don’t think Cheney or Bush is capable of evaluating the Intelligence about Iran. I don’t think either one of them is capable of weighing the Terrorist threat. I don’t actually think either one of them is capable of governing. We’ll get nowhere if they’re involved – their ideas are fixed, and they will undermine anything we do with their Axis of Evil thinking. We have to get rid of them before we can do anything sensible about the mess they’ve created in Iraq. It’s the bottom line…
I think Cindy Sheehan might be in agreement with you.