Cindy Sheehan wants to know why her son died in Iraq. She is camping out on the street in Texas until Bush meets her and explains what he meant when referring to the "noble cause" her son Casey died for. Right now, this is the top story in America.
There is exactly one reason for the illegal war that makes sense. However, I am not sure if it quite qualifies as a "noble cause".
Bush refuses to meet Sheehan and explain his reasons. However, he has been talking to other people. One of them is a writer named Mickey Herskowitz, who was hired to ghostwrite an autobiography for Bush. As I noted before, Bush seemed to think that going to war would earn him a boost in his popularity at home. And he was right. The American voters seem to like illegal wars of aggression for no particular reason. So kicking ass in Iraq probably brought out the essential few percents of Republican voters to keep in cheating distance from the White House.
On the other hand, even that reason has probably ceased to make sense now. Recent polls show that support for continuing the illegal occupation is a minority position.
Only 26 percent support continuing the illegal occupation indefinitely. 61 percent disapprove of Bush's handling of Iraq. 57 percent think that the illegal war has made America less safe from terrorism. 54 percent say that starting this illegal war of aggression was a mistake.
Therefore, under the same logic that has produced the only reason to go to war in the first place (giving the voters what they want), the illegal occupation has to end immediately.
That however, would require that Bush either admits he was wrong in the first place or say that he has changed his mind. Both are extremely unlikely to happen.
So now the remaining noble cause is that keeping on the steady trickle of dead Americans is necessary to avoid making Bush look even worse than he looks right now to the American public.
I can understand why Bush doesn't even try to explain this to Mrs. Sheehan.
Posted by Karl-Friedrich Lenz at August 13, 2005 12:12 PM