How many times have we heard this question (or one like it) posed by one of the Chickenhawks?
How many times have we been implicitly or explicitly slandered by questions such as these?
You've probably already read (or written) many excellent ripostes to this ridiculous question. But, please permit me share mine with you.
I'm probably flattering myself, but you might find that my ending is a very powerful and original summation of our position.
To the Chickenhawks:
We oppose continuing and extending the Iraqi Occupation because it is already a failure. Watching this disaster unfold has been like watching Bush send a fleet of cars crashing into a deep pit. Just because we know that the cars will crash, doesn’t mean that we want them to crash.
Just because we know that Bush’s Iraq adventure is doomed, doesn’t mean that we want this failure.
As much as you would like to blame us for opposing this war, we’re not the ones responsible for your failure. Bush was the one who didn’t listen when he was told that he would need a more powerful "vehicle" to win in Iraq
He should have used a vehicle powered by 400,000 troops.
He should have made sure that it was properly armor plated.
He should have made sure that it had serviceable body armor for every soldier that needed it.
When I say serviceable body armor, I'm talking about the highly effective Dragon Skin armor that the Secret Service uses, not the crap Interceptor armor that you've been forcing the troops to wear. Even when they've paid $ 3000 for their own Dragon Skin, you've still been forcing the troops to wear the inferior Interceptor armor.
WHY ARE YOU FORCING THE TROOPS TO WEAR INFERIOR ARMOR!?!? Could it be because the Interceptor vendor is a major Republican donor?
Maybe if the Bush Administration had used the proper vehicle for their Iraq "adventure", then we wouldn't be in this situation. But instead of taking the time necessary to build the army they needed, the Bush Administration rushed into war with the army that they had.
Now, almost everything that Bush had been warned about has come to pass. His "fleet of cars" went crashing down into the pit, slamming into "Humpty Diraq" at the bottom.
Now, it's too late for the "right vehicle". "Humpty Diraq" has been smashed into bits; Iraq has spiraled out of control and into a civil war.
In spite of these disastrous results, Bush insists on staying the course while only changing his slogans. He steadfastly embraces the same strategy that has given us this disaster. His "plan" for putting Humpty Diraq back together again.....is to keep hitting it with US troops.
Bush's Iraq policy is literally insane! He keeps doing the same thing, over and over again: but he expects a different outcome each time he does it.
The proposed escalation is just more of the same insanity, only intensified. It's a plan for putting Humpty Diraq back together by HITTING IT EVEN HARDER WITH MORE US TROOPS.
Here in the reality based community, we know that the world doesn’t work that way. No matter how much you spin it, no matter how often you slander us, no matter many of America's Horses and how many of America's Men you send in, you cannot put Humpty Diraq back together again!
But, just because we acknowledge the reality of your failure doesn’t mean that we want the US to fail.
When you say: "failure is not an option"...well.... you’re right. But, you’re right for the wrong reasons.
Options imply that you have a choice. But, in this case, choosing not to fail is like choosing to un-smash an egg: it's simply not an option anymore.
Failure is no longer an "option".
You
Have
Already
Failed
Your war is a disastrous failure and no amount of American or Iraqi blood is going to change that.
Here in the reality based community, we don’t expect the troops to do the impossible. We don’t expect them to un-smash Humpty Diraq.
Here in the reality based community, we don’t believe that you can un-smash anything by repeatedly applying the same strategy that SMASHED IT INTO BITS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!.
We don’t want the US to fail in Iraq, but we haven’t been given a choice in the matter. Bush said he was the "Decider" and that he would choose for us.
He chose this unnecessary war.
He deliberately chose to ignore the reality based intelligence that would have prevented the war.
He even chose to ignore HIS OWN FATHER'S ADVICE against this war!
And then on top of all of those bad choices was his decision to really screw things up by using the wrong "vehicle".
Bush and everyone who supported his decisions are the ones responsible for all the choices that have led to this failure.
We didn’t want this failure; but now that you've forced upon us, we have to deal with it. The first thing that we have to do is stop you from vainly sacrificing more US troops in a desperate attempt to salvage Bush’s "Legacy".
But, if YOU still think that it's a cause worth sacrificing for, then YOU should go to an Army recruiter and volunteer to jump into Bush’s Pit. However, if you’re not willing to jump in yourself, then you shouldn’t be asking anyone else to do it!
Don't give us any of that bullshit about being able to "support the Yankees without wearing the uniform". The "Yankees" in Iraq are exhausted after multiple combat rotations and involuntary extensions of their contracts through "stop loss" orders. Think of them as starting pitchers who desperately need relief. They've been on the mound for nearly four years now and that's long enough. It's time for you to GET IN THERE AND RELIEVE THE STARTERS!
You and your President had plenty of warnings, but you still chose the path that led to failure. The troops aren't to blame for this failure and neither are we. The only ones to blame for this disaster are the people who built and supported it. So, stop vilifying us when we tell the truth about it. We aren't telling the insurgents anything that they don't already know; they are intimately acquainted with your failure and its consequences. The only people who aren't "aware" of it are the people who still believe that Bush is doing a "heck of a job" and that the US is winning in Iraq.
This failure wasn't our choice and we're not responsible for coming up with a plan to undo it: we're not responsible for unscrambling any eggs that you have smashed. Whenever you challenge us to propose such a "plan", it's just another example of your failure to grasp reality.
Our plan is the only sane plan left: to stop wasting American blood and treasure on your failure.
Even though you don't "get it".....we do.
It's not about whether we want the US to win in Iraq....
It's about grasping reality....
It's about unscrambling an egg....
YOU CAN’T UNSCRAMBLE AN EGG BY POURING BLOOD ON IT!