It’s time to flex our political muscle over Iraq

When George W. Bush first entered office, I predicted that he would bring about the Armageddon. Many people laughed. Some even questioned my mental stability. Well, who’s crazy now?

In recent months, Bush has been shoving war with Iraq down everyone’s throats. In so doing, he has alienated both the United Nations and the better part of the world and set them against us. Smooth move, George. Smooth move.

And as if his suave, diplomatic foreign relations weren’t reason enough to reelect him, George W. Bush has topped it all off with a proposal that would, in very basic terms, allow the United States to make preemptive attacks on any nation that might be developing weapons of mass destruction.

While this might sound like a fairly sensible thing to do, it raises some serious questions. How can we accuse a nation and then punish them for a crime that they did not yet commit? Wouldn’t that basically be the same thing as a terrorist attack? Oh, wait – how could I forget – we’re doing it in the name of freedom.

The sad truth is we are simply treating these nations with a “guilty until proven innocent” or, more precisely, a “guilty, and we’re going to bomb you until it doesn’t matter whether you were innocent” mindset. Obviously, this proposal is incredibly un-American.

But surely Bush can’t be as inept as he seems, right? He must have a good explanation, don’t you think? Well, here is how he explained the need for preemptive action during a speech in Tennessee.

He said, “There is a little saying in Texas: ‘Fool me once, shame on you. But if you fool me, you can’t get fooled again.” And the worst part is, he wasn’t even able to get through this pathetic misquotation without a series of long pauses broken by looks of deep confusion and mild stuttering. Yes America, this is the man you elected. I sure hope you’re happy.

Of course, all of my complaining isn’t going to do much. That is why I ask that all of you who disagree with the Bush administration’s actions join me in a letter writing campaign. Realistically, there is not much that we can do, but at some point, our representatives in Congress are going to have to vote on some or all of these issues. At the very least, we can let them know that there are a large number of voters in their constituency who feel strongly about these issues and expect to be represented properly.

So please, take a few minutes and write to: Bill Nelson [D] 517 Hart Senate Office Building. Washington DC 20510 and Bob Graham [D] 524 Hart Senate Office Building. Washington DC 20510. It is time we as students flex our political muscle before it atrophies. I hope you will join me.

Travis Atria is a junior majoring in English literature.