Supporters for Bush's Iraq war have mysteriously disappeared

Looking through the archives of The State News, I made an interesting discovery. It seems the pro-Iraq war letters, defending Bush's magnificent leadership, have all dried up. It's almost as though fewer readers think Bush's war was such a splendid idea after all.

Pro-war sentiments certainly weren't hard to find in letters from 2003. For example, in "Anti-war protesters confused about war" (SN 4/9/03), Joshua Feinberg wrote, "Don't the anti-war protesters see that most of the Iraqi people are welcoming our military? ... Anybody who doesn't see the logic behind the war has no comprehension of international affairs."

Stephen Duane, in an upbeat assessment, "Weapons regardless, war was necessary" (SN 6/18/03), declared, "The voice of reason has triumphed, and the people of Iraq are now free. ... People everywhere will be able to express their beliefs, support and dissent without fear of reprisal."

My favorite Republican twaddle from 2003 was an opinion column by Jason C. Miller, then-chairman of the Michigan Federation of College Republicans.

Before delving into his column, "Protesters were wrong on Iraq; now it's time to help out" (SN 4/14/03), I have to ask, does "college Republican" sound like an oxymoron to anyone else? College is a place of evidence-based reality, intellectual curiosity, exposure to a multitude of ideas and perspectives, and accountability for one's performance. Sadly, these qualities are the antithesis of Republicanism under Bush's reign.

Anyway, back to Miller's observations, which began thusly: "I'm tempted to write a column that says, 'See, I told you so,' to all the anti-war leftists at MSU. ... Somebody needs to hold the anti-war agitators accountable and show the error of their ways. The protesters told us we would not be welcomed into Baghdad. They said the war would claim hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties. ... Thankfully, for the people of Iraq, the hippies were wrong and our president had the courage to act." He added, "The answer to those charges can be seen in the happy faces of Iraqi civilians."

Yes, all those happy Iraqi faces; what a joyous paradise we've given them.

Tragically, warmongering Republicans, who habitually talk tough about conflicts they're unwilling to fight themselves (ie: the chicken-hawks in the Bush administration), were wrong. More than 3,000 American servicemen have been killed in Iraq, and many more have been maimed. Depending on which estimates you trust, upward of 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. Both numbers are still climbing.

The real reason for the war - other than the fact that God, in his infinite wisdom, inexplicably placed "our" oil under their sand - was the neoconservative fantasy of creating a shining beacon of democracy in the Middle East and demonstrating the reach and power of America's military might.

This utopian neocon vision has been an unmitigated disaster, much like the Bush presidency itself. We've alienated allies, served as a recruiting poster for Muslim radicals, demonstrated our powerlessness to control world events and confirmed the limitations of democratic-style government when it's imposed from the outside rather than fought for from within. Oh, and yes, we've squandered hundreds of billions of borrowed dollars that your children will be paying for.

Many of us were against the war from the beginning. During those days, though, many Republicans viewed speaking out against Bush as traitorous. The reaction to my initial column on our divinely guided leader, "First Impression of Bush was apparently off target" (SN 3/25/03), is a good example.

William Perod, in his response letter, "Columnist's choice of discussion awful" (SN 3/26/03) wrote, "Instead of supporting his country, his troops and his president in times as important as they are right now, he chooses to make a fool of himself with his ultraliberal standpoint and unpatriotic concepts. ... I hate people who use their First Amendment right to spout off about our nation in a time when there is no room for it."

Perhaps the real patriots were the war protesters who felt disinclined to send our military on a moron's errand and were willing to be ridiculed, derided and detested for their efforts.

I won't label the rabid Bush supporters, who thoughtlessly acted as enablers for a clearly ill-considered war, unpatriotic. I won't call them flag-waving, chest-thumping neoimperialists. I'll just call them wrong. Dead wrong.

John Bice