A Clear Choice

Ryan Robbins

In November people will be asked to either reelect our current President or to appoint a new face as the leader of our nation. The choice should be simple. It has nothing to do with politics or our nations current economics. It has nothing to do with who is the best person to deal with the situation in Iraq. It has nothing to do with whose hairstyle is more appealing. President Bush should not be reelected as he has committed an injustice to his position as President and to the people of the United States.

As a preemptive effort to insure the physical safety of the United States Citizens, the President called for an invasion of Iraq and an overthrow of its government. Such a goal is well within the outline of what a United States President is required to do, except Iraq posed no such threat.

It was discovered that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction and Iraq had shown no means of acquiring or developing them in recent years. It has also become clear that there was no link between Saddam Hussein's regime and the Al Qaeda terrorists.

"The Iraqi regime...possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas" (President Bush, 2002).

Those were undeniably the justifications for which President Bush maintained his war campaign and no evidence to this date supports either claim.

The greatest power given to the leader of our nation is the power of war. As General Westmoreland put it, "The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars."

With that power comes immense responsibility and no leeway should ever be given when it comes to that responsibility. Faulty intelligence or not, as Commander and Chief, President Bush is ultimately accountable for any misuse of the United States Military and it is a great abuse of the military to start a war without clear and viable reasons. Mistakes of this magnitude should never be permitted of the President of the United States. 20/20 hindsight should never be an excuse allowed to the most powerful individual in the world, especially when it entails human life.

The true injustices, however, are the after affects of the war in Iraq. President Abraham Lincoln described the responsibilities of the President and the United States Government best. It is a government "of the people, by the people, for the people."

Obligated to protect his citizens, President Bush's actions did just the opposite. Americans are dead. Either through direct military conflict or at the hands of terrorists, Americans have lost their lives. There is no denying this as the tally continues to grow. To what end were these lives lost? Is this conflict making our borders safer, or, as it has been suggested, is the occupation of Iraq encouraging more terrorist aggression on our country?

Al Qaeda terrorists have already attacked our nation, but with our continued efforts in Iraq, other groups outside of Al Qaeda are using violence to attain their goals. Some have argued that the war in Iraq has incited these terrorist organizations and has even created terrorism where there was none before. In this respect, the President has failed to protect the safety of the people that appointed him.

Public safety, however, is not the only thing President Bush is obligated to protect. It is his duty to uphold the interests of the people and the integrity of this nation.

When campaigning for war, we were given good reasons to militarily enter Iraq and we believed and supported those reasons because they came from the mouth of our elected leader. After 9/11 President Bush led us against those that wished us harm and we followed. Confronted with another possible threat, we trusted his leadership to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again.

Other countries such as Germany and France were not ready to give their support to a conflict. The United Nations was not ready to sanction a war in Iraq. Undaunted, the President continued the campaign. With the burning towers fresh in our minds and encouraged by the word "Patriotism", we did not question his decision to invade alone. The apparent indecisiveness of the United Nations and the pacifism of other countries was spurned and ridiculed. People went so far as to boycott products from the opposition while proudly eating their "Freedom Fries."

When we learned that Iraq was not a threat and that we were wrong, the pride and integrity of this country was tarnished. Relations with countries that we once called friends are now weakened. World opinion of the United States is more negative now than it has been in a long time. Words such as "imperialism" and "world conquest" are now being connected with a nation we used to call "Land of the Free". This in no way serves the interests of the people of the United States and damages what used to be viewed as a great nation.

The President should be held liable for these actions. He has not directly broken any written law for a President to abide by, but he has performed an injustice nonetheless. Martha Stewart, Cofounder Kenneth Lay of Enron, John Rigas of Adelphia and Dennis Koslowski of Tyco stood before a judge and jury to be held responsible for their abuse of Big Business. Come November President Bush will take the podium in a different sort of courtroom where the jury of the United States people will judge him.

Whether Kerry is a worthy successor is a lesser issue than the injustices President Bush has already committed. Unfortunately the democracy of this country is limited to the realistic choice between two people, and one of those people has already shown that he is not fit for the position. This leaves no room for politics. It should not be a choice between a Democrat and a Republican. It should not be a choice between John Kerry and George W. Bush. It should not be a choice at all.

The actions of the President were a disservice to the United States and he failed to protect the safety and interests of the people. Given the impact of these actions, a second chance at office should not be an option. Elected to the most important job in the country, President Bush was unsuccessful. Rather than choose between our current leader and another candidate, we should proclaim that even the President of the United States is not above accountability.