Stop the Bush bashing? Not until he’s out of office!

This letter is in response to Richard Lyons’ Sept. 27 op-ed piece “Stop the Bush Bashing.” Mr. Lyons, I can hardly decide where to start with your elementary analysis of the global effect this administration is having. You make the naive [assertion] that the Bush administration said this would be a fast war. Remember the “Mission Accomplished” fiasco? Two months into the war, Bush proudly stood atop a ship and declared that the war was over. Last week, the private security firm Blackwater, which provides escorts for diplomats and other dignitaries who visit Iraq, came under massive scrutiny. Their involvement in the war is a prime example of “pork-barrel politics,” given that Blackwater’s founder and his sister raised over $325,000 for Bush during 2004. The State Department pays Blackwater $1,222 per day per mercenary, which is six times the amount paid to U.S. soldiers. They have received a total of $1 billion in contracts since the outset of the war.