Ever since the Iraq war began, Republicans have had to devise new rationales to justify the administration's actions.
Here's what's been available in this fast food restaurant of spin:
WMDs and al-Qaida connections were the thick burgers of the bunch. Had the American people not been led to believe that Hussein might be able to harm them and that he had something to do with 9/11 then they would never have supported sending their children into harm's way.
Yes, the administration never explicitly said Hussein and 9/11 were linked. However, they did everything they could to give that impression, hence, according to a recent PIPA study, 75 percent of Bush voters believe Iraq provided aid to al-Qaida and 20 percent believe Iraq was directly involved.
Following those urgent claims, the need to enforce the UN's resolutions comes into play -- a low-calorie item. However, this argument barely stands considering the low standing that so many war-supporters possess for the UN.
Something that's been on the menu awhile: Hussein is an evil man. "He's gassed his own people," Bush would say. Only someone with this President's erudite, nuanced knowledge of foreign policy would label the Kurds as Hussein's "own people." This is not cited as frequently since all one needs to do is point to our friendship with Hussein in the 80s when he did what today's president condemns him for.
The neo-con chicken nugget: "We need to spread democracy in the Middle East. Terrorism is less likely to come from people who are 'free.'" OK, fine. Lets start with Saudi Arabia since that's where al-Qaida and the 9/11 hijackers came from.
And finally there's the super-sized meal: The Iraqi people are better off with Hussein gone.
That's the one to take to the bank. Pass Go. Collect $200. The strongest case for removing Hussein would be the one on humanitarian grounds. (Though, it's still a tough sell.)
Now that it's been "mission accomplished" for over a year then surely life has to have improved for the Iraqis. Unfortunately, in one of the most painful areas, the opposite has happened.
According to UNICEF, in the 1990s, half a million children in Iraq died of malnutrition. Some blame the UN sanctions, others Hussein. Regardless, with those two roadblocks removed, the children of Iraq should not continue to die like this while they are occupied by the richest country in the world.
But that's what's been happening.
According to the Washington Post, acute malnutrition has doubled among Iraqi children since the invasion. These children suffer from "wasting," a condition with chronic diarrhea and a severe lack of protein.
This is another sickening example of the sheer incompetence of this administration to do vital post-war planning. We can put this dubious trophy up on the shelf next to Abu Ghraib, the absence of WMDs, and the obscene number of soldier and civilian casualties.
You'd think that after we transform an Iraqi family's house into a pile of rubble the least we could do is provide a few happy meals.
This administration had a chance to have at least one of its rationales for war succeed. And it failed.
There is no excuse whatsoever for children to be malnourished when we're pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into Iraq. This is so typical of this administration: blindness with a price tag of human lives.
Write to David at swimminginbrokenglass@gmail.com
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