Reality check: We’re not making "really good progress" in Iraq

You’d never know it by watching network and cable news, but we’re still involved in two wars that are, for all practical purposes, going down the crapper. Thank God "The Runaway Bride" is still planning on exchanging marital vows, because now a few hundred more armchair shrinks are free to gas-bag about her mental state 24/7, thus keeping her at the top of the vaudeville review sometimes called the news. And if the wedding goes bust? Well, we still have Michael Jackson’s circus to entertain us.

As I write this, 1594 American troops have been killed in Iraq. 180 American troops have been slain in Afghanistan. Democracy is on the march...or on the run, as it were.

A little over a week ago, at a press conference, George W. Bush stated that we’re making "really good progress" in Iraq. Two days before the press conference, General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Iraqi insurgents were as strong as ever. Since Bush’s happy talk, 250 Iraqis have been killed via suicide bombings, assassinations and gunfire. I guess you could call that "really good progress," in that nobody was beheaded or set on fire or died a death of a thousand cuts.

Now, it’s a given that, in today’s United States, the average citizen is deemed to have the I.Q. of a sideshow geek wearing wax lips and using a drool cup. This Administration figures that, if you repeat a lie often enough and fervently enough, the people will buy it. It worked for the first four years. Now? Well, just ask Tony Blair how his fan base is growing.

In spite of the fact that our alleged government and the mainstream media are doing their utmost to keep the American populace distracted, a lot of folks seem to finally be waking up from their comatose state without the aid of either Bill Frist or Tom DeLay or the Bible thumper of your choice.

Less than one week after the Anointed One declared: “I believe we are making good progress in Iraq because the Iraqi people are beginning to see the benefits of a free society,” a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll revealed that 57% of those polled thought it wasn’t worth it to go into Iraq. 56% said that the Iraq invasion was going "badly," up from 45% the preceding month. Hmmm.

Somehow, in spite of celebrity trials and sprinting brides, folks are beginning to smell the truth. And it smells like burnt flesh. Last Friday, at least 67 Iraqis were killed by suicide bombers. Over a dozen bodies were found in a garbage dump, all blindfolded and shot in the head, execution-style. Thursday? Bomb blasts and ambushes killed at least two dozen. Wednesday? At least 60 civilians were blown up. Nine Iraqi soldiers were killed by a car bomb, as well.

Smells like democracy, don’t it?

At a speech a few days ago, new national intelligence (?) chieftan John Negroponte hedged our collective bets on a mini-America rising out of Iraq. "Political, economic and social change, especially in countries emerging from tyranny, take(s) months, EVEN YEARS," he intoned.

Are we there, yet? Uh, no.

This is going to be a long ride, kids.

Adding to the hilarity, General Richard Myers, in a leaked classified report to Congress, said the American military is in a period of increased risk because of Iraq. If Dubya decides to launch a new preemptive war? We’re seriously screwed.

When queried about the report, Meyers said: "The timelines (to winning a new war) may have to be extended and we may have to use additional resources..." What resources? Roving bands of masked wrestlers? Street gangs? Prisoners? Nuns wielding lethal wooden rulers?

Then, there’s the report from "The London Times," stating that Bush and Tony (Biscuits) Blair decided to go after Saddam Hussein at least nine months before the original launch of the war. The Times published documents from a secret meeting of top level cabinet officials held in July 2002, wherein Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the case for war was "thin," but spy chief Sir Richard Dearlove, fresh from a trip to D.C., concluded that war was "inevitable" because "Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action," and "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

The above-mentioned story hasn’t really made the headlines stateside (Gee. I wonder why?) but, again, Americans seem to be sensing the general vibe.

F’rinstance, the U.S. Army missed its April recruiting goal by 42% and the Army Reserve fell short by 37%. The Army has now missed its recruiting goals for three straight months. They’re both expected to miss their May recruiting goals, as well. The Army National Guard missed it’s entire 2004 recruitment goal, too.

The Marines also missed its April goal, down for the fourth straight month.

Sometimes, the "great unwashed" are smarter than the government thinks they are, it would seem.

But, I’m sure Bush envisions Iraq as becoming his second beacon of freedom in the mid-East, right up there with Afghanistan. Ah, Afghanistan, a Jeffersonian dream-come-true, where poppies bloom, opium is considered a vegetable and the Taliban and warlords still roam free.

Afghanistan, where hero Army Ranger Pat Tillman died, fighting off rebels in 2004, and was subsequently honored at a nationally televised memorial. Well, as we all know by now, former football star Tillman was killed by friendly fire. A 1,600 page report by Brigadier General Gary Jones of the Army Special Operations Command, just concluded that the Army determined that Tillman had been killed by his own men shortly after the incident. The day after his death. U.S. personnel burned Tillman’s bloodied body armor and uniform, which Jones called the destruction of evidence. Army officers also instructed soldiers knowledgeable about the incident to keep their mouths shut, fearing the news media would learn the truth.

“Leading his Rangers without regard for his own safety, Tillman was shot and killed while focusing his efforts on the elimination of the enemy forces and the protection of his team members,” Army Special Operations Command said in a public statement on April 30, 2004, several days after Army investigators had established friendly fire as the cause.

Referring to this cover-up, in the understatement of the year, Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said, “Notifying families in a timely way that they have a loved one killed or severely injured is complex and often imperfect work. We can do better.”

In short, the U.S. Team needed a hero. So, they lied. They didn’t reveal the truth about the incident to the world and, most importantly, TO TILLMAN’S FAMILY for months.

If you’re winning a war, you don’t lie.

And, oh, are we winning in Afghanistan.

This past week, three young Afghan women were found raped, hanged and dumped on a roadside with a written warning advising women not to work for foreign relief organizations.

A few weeks ago, an Afghani woman was murdered for adultery, sanctioned by the local mullah.

And, this past week, four Afghanis were shot to death and five wounded over a neighborly dispute concerning a GOAT! (The goat, alas, also was introduced to the Big Sleep.)

Thomas Jefferson would be SO proud.

The stench arising from Washington is even beginning to waft into the Red States.

Take Bush’s wet-dream about eviscerating Social Security. No matter how he tries to dress up his goal of destroying FDR’s vision, the voters aren’t buying it.

Last week, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that six in ten Americans disapprove of Bush’s handling of Social Security and 56% were not about to accept whittled-down benefits. The majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents were all united against Bush on this one.

So, two days before the poll, how did barnstorming Bush sum up this groundswell of disdain for his Carny show? Here’s an actual headline from the wire services.

BUSH: AMERICANS READY TO INVEST S.S. FUNDS

"President Bush said Wednesday that private investment accounts created from Social Security payroll taxes is an idea whose time has come as more Americans are comfortable with putting their retirement funds in the market."

D’oh! If they ever do another "Clueless" movie? I think I know the star.

Okay, granted, the public’s outrage over Bush’s policies is only on "simmer," but it’s clear that the Republican Party is oblivious to it all.

The deal is: you can smile every time you wallop your dog, giving it mixed signals. But, eventually, the dog is going to ignore the smile and just concentrate on the wallop. Eventually, it’s going to bare it’s teeth and bite.

So, to all those in the bubble known as D.C..

Time for a reality check, please.

Before this dog known as “the people” ignores the smile and bites you on the ass.

Big Time.

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