Bush: The new Jack Ryan or Daffy Duck?
Ahsan, Dhaka
Anyone who has read Tom Clancy's books will be familiar with the character of 'Jack Ryan' -- the ordinary historian who is fated by great events to become the leader of the most powerful nation of the world. The character was honest, patriotic and plain. He shot from the hip in defence of his country and its allies. I strongly suspect that our friend Dubya has read those books and is modelling himself as a president after this character. What he forgets is that Jack Ryan may shoot from the hip at America's enemies, but he is a man wise enough to hit straight at the heart of those enemies. What our great leader George W. Bush appears to be good at is shooting America on the foot. He may have started out well by promising to tackle the serious problem of terrorism and its root causes, but his promises have remained just that -- promises. When the US and British forces liberated Iraq, they forgot one very important thing: how to win the victory and not just the war. Unfortunately political guidance from Washington and London, as well as an obtuse attitude taken by many European and Arab capitals, has not helped. The coalition troops in Iraq have been tripping over their own plans when trying to pacify the ill feelings of Iraqis and also trying to satisfy their political masters. The man most responsible, according to major American news publications, for the fiasco in post-Saddam Iraq is Donald Rumsfeld. He advocated a policy of doing more with less in military operations. However he has very little idea of how to conduct peacekeeping and policing operations in conflict areas. Instead of cajoling and sweet-talking Muslim countries into providing peacekeepers, Dubya is presenting terrorists with big fat American targets. What seriously bothers me is why aren't there entire divisions of troops from all over the world conducting humanitarian operations in Iraq as well as helping in the search for weapons of mass destruction. What 911 has shown us is that terrorists will stop at nothing to push their agendas. Muslim troops under US leadership would dramatically reduce the tensions now simmering in Iraq which threaten to breed more terrorists out of desperate men and women. Then there is the sudden sale of oil without even any semblance of an Iraqi government in place. It may be a straightforward transaction, but the suddenness and the lack of clarity about who receives the money are bothering a lot of people. Mr. Bush, please raise your gun and shoot at America's enemies and not at your country's foot.
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