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As Commander-in-Chief, George Should Step Down
by James Glaser
Let's face it, George Bush is a lousy Commander-in-Chief. George may claim victory in Afghanistan, but Mullah Omar and the Taliban are still in control of much of the country, and Osama bin Laden has never been found. Although it must be said that Osama has become sort of a regular on American television, with his home made videos coming out every few months. George Bush's charge into Iraq looked good at first, but it is now years after George declared "mission accomplished," and every day since then 15 to 20 Americans have been killed or wounded in Iraq. As Commander-in-Chief it is George Bush's job to defend our country's borders, but each and every night thousands and thousands of illegal aliens cross our Southern border with Mexico. George Bush's plan to close our border is called "Operation Jumpstart." Two months ago Bush announced his order to put six thousand National Guard troops to the border to help out the Border Patrol. Retired Col. Randall Larson of the consulting firm Homeland Security Associates said, "Six thousand isn't enough to make a difference, especially when you send them down there two weeks at a time." You see, the President's idea was to send a new National Guard unit every two weeks, but it takes a few days to get unpacked, a few days to figure out what they are to do, and by then it's time to start packing up to leave. The Federal Government will fund these Guard deployments to the border, but a lot of States don't have the units to send, and only about 2,800 troops are down there now. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona says, "A lot of States are not sending them. We're not up to the complement that the president authorized, which is 6,000. We're not even close to that right now. There are several that haven't sent people because they say they can't spare them." Right now is hurricane and wildfire season, along with the fact that many states have National Guard units in Afghanistan and Iraq. George Bush really has no military experience that would give him the expertise to be a commander of troops. In fact when George Bush was in the National Guard he deserted. Many veterans and active duty troops feel that Bush should be in prison for his crime of desertion during war time, but here he is commanding the most powerful military in the history of the world. And after attacking two of the most pitiful countries in the world, (Afghanistan and Iraq) and being held to stalemates in both attacks, he is now fouling up his border security plan. The man should step down from his position as Commander-in Chief and give that job to some one who knows what he is doing. Because of Bush, tens of thousands of fine young Americans have been killed and wounded, and thousands more will suffer from the psychological trauma of combat for the rest of their lives. On top of that, well over one hundred thousand innocent Iraqi and Afghan civilians have been killed and maimed in Bush's time in control of our armed forces. Our country and world can not afford to have President Bush in charge of our troops any longer. |
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