by James Glaser
April 15, 2004

The people of Iraq knew what it meant last night when George Bush said "we will finish the work of the fallen." This morning American patrols were done with tanks in the streets of Baghdad.

These people lived under the thumb of Saddam Hussein for decades. They know when rulers like Bush or Saddam get hurt politically, the people of Iraq are going to bleed.

Patrick Cockburn, of the Independent.co.uk News writes, "Fear is pervasive. Many parents are not letting children go to school. Students, particularly women, are not going to the University. Patrols of edgy US soldiers have increased and are often accompanied by heavy tanks."

In the last two weeks almost 90 American troops have been killed and it has now been reported that over 600 have been wounded. Add to that over 880 Iraqis killed and over 1000 wounded, all in this same two weeks. Central command says that over 40 Westerners have been kidnapped. Nobody knows how many American contract mercenaries have been killed or wounded, as there is no requirement to report those losses.

All of this combat has the American troops on a hair trigger and the Iraqi people know this because they have had to suffer the wrath of Saddam's troops in the past.

The American led Provisional Authority now requires all of its civilian employees to wear helmets and flak jackets at all times. Their headquarters in the "Green Zone has been fired on four nights in a row now. This compound is right in the heart of Baghdad.

President Bush downplayed what is going on in Iraq, but the fact is we are in a two prong battle with both Sunnis and Shia factions. These are two religious factions that have never fought together against us before.

Tuesday night President Bush talked about how an Iraq with Democracy will help the whole Middle East.

Wednesday, President Bush and the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, made a joint statement about how Palestinian refugees will not have a "Right of Return" to their land that Israel took from them in the war.

The Globe and Mail's, Oliver Moore writes, "The US President George W. Bush told refugees Wednesday that they can forget about ever returning to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel." "Indicating a major shift in policy, Mr. Bush rejected the "right of return" for Palestinians uprooted and suggested that some of the land seized in later wars may be kept by Israel."

Bush went on to say, "The United States is strongly committed to Israel's security and the well-being as a Jewish state." That is fine, but Bush never said we were committed to the security of any Palestinian.

President Bush looks like he is doing everything he can to make America and the Muslim world enemies. He and Sharon came up with these new plans for the Middle East, but they did it on their own. The Palestinians had nothing to say about these new plans.

In the Arab mind, the United States now occupies Iraq, like Israel occupies Palestine. If Israel can take land with a war, what do you think Arabs believe Bush is trying to do in Iraq? There have already been plans published about 14 permanent American Military Bases in Iraq.

President Bush has no exit plan for our troops in Iraq, because he plans on keeping them there forever. Next year our troops in Japan and Germany will have been in those countries for 60 years. Out troops in South Korea have been there for 55 years and in Cuba for well over 80 years.

Do I know what George has planned next? Not a Clue.