by James Glaser
June 23, 2003

At the end of World War II, Japan was bombed to devastation. They had no Air Force left, their Navy was sunk, and their Army had been losing on every front. America still insisted on a formal capitulation, a signed document by the government of Japan telling the world that the United States of America had won.

Over fifty years later America has declared their victory to the world in wars with Afghanistan and Iraq. The only problem is that the rest of the world is wondering why if America won, the fighting and killing of American troops continues.

Yes, this continued fighting means there is a very good chance that President Bush could be the first American President to lose two wars in one term and there is an excellent chance he will be the first to start three.

Even though George Bush made a dramatic landing on an aircraft carrier thirty miles off the US coast to tell the world, the war is over in Iraq and we won, American troops are being killed almost daily. With our claim that the War in Afghanistan ended in America's favor over a year ago, the rest of the world watches as the Taliban Government and its leader Mulla Omar, continue the fighting and the United States can only claim control of a portion of that nation.

In neither of these declared victories has an "End of Hostilities" document been signed nor have the leaders of either, voiced a commitment to end the fighting. Saddam Hussein is still thought to be at large, as is Mulla Omar, and our arch foe, Osama bin Laden.

One side can start a war, but it takes both sides to end it. No matter how many times George Bush declares victory or as he likes to call it, Mission Accomplished, there are daily reports of American forces being killed and wounded. These wars are on going.

With the gleam of self declared victory in his eyes, Bush is looking for other countries to attack. As a repeat of the start of his first two wars, George is making threats about Iran. With righteous indignation, The United States feels that it is morally wrong for Iran to have Nuclear weapons. The United States, the only nation in history to kill hundreds of thousands with atomic bombs and hundreds of thousands more with Chemical Weapons in Vietnam, now tells the world who has enough moral responsibility to possess these weapons.

In both Iraq and Afghanistan there are enough military weapons, many supplied by America to the governments we are currently trying to defeat, to continue these wars for decades. The people of these countries have now had a whiff of what freedom from a dictatorship is like and they will fight on to push American forces out of their country. Freedom is intoxicating and George Bush will not be able to keep these people from claiming it for themselves no matter how many American troops he is ready to sacrifice.