I did not agree with the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, but that paled in comparison to the manipulation of intelligence and the subsequent deception that led to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Most notably the shaky intelligence that Saddam had ties to Al-Qaeda and the never found weapons of mass destruction.
But the deception of the U.S. public almost seems like a lighthearted affair when one takes into account the human toll that this deception has caused - the death of almost 2,000 U.S. soldiers and untold thousands of Iraqis.
I did not agree with President Bush's rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, the international environmental agreement aimed at combating global warming, and the rejection of the International Court of Justice to avoid putting U.S. military personnel under the jurisdiction of any foreign institution.
But these examples of disregard for potentially beneficial international regulations are cursory compared to the Bush administration's apparent lack of concern for the protection of basic human rights - as witnessed in its response to numerous cases of alleged prisoner of war abuse.
Bush himself deemed that the Geneva Convention statutes were not applicable in waging the War on Terror. Consequently, orders from Major Geoffrey Miller to rapidly exploit internees for actionable intelligence have resulted in the torture of thousands of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, and the deaths of at least five detainees according to the Schlesinger report, and four more cases still pending.
Bush's deplorable international actions wilt in importance when positioned alongside his criminal negligence of the rights of U.S. citizens. First of all, these unnecessary military forays have increased the strain on the federal budget. While money was being spent to destroy Iraq, the social fabric of the United States crumbled - as funding for higher education, Medicaid, welfare and public libraries was slashed.
If all this were not bad enough, Hurricane Katrina showed us all that the Bush administration, despite its lofty rhetoric, has misguided perception of true threats to U.S. citizens. When a government does not ensure that a hurricane-prone city has an evacuation plan that takes into account even those without cars, and levees that can withstand a category 4 hurricane, that government is not serving its primary function of providing its citizens with security.
We pay taxes so that our government can do its best to protect us from possible dangers. This might be news to Bush, but terrorists are not the only dangers we face. By not acknowledging this, Bush delayed aiding thousands of citizens and left them more vulnerable to death, destruction and chaos in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Do you think it is wrong that an administration, which has overseen and created such grave injustices continue its unsustainable and unjust policies with little opposition? If you answered yes, then it is your civic responsibility to provide the necessary opposition to these policies.
On Wednesday, Nov. 2 people all over the country will take to the streets to protest the policies of the Bush administration as a part of the movement, The World Can't Wait: Drive Out the Bush Regime.
Athens will be a part of this. At 10:30 a.m. students will walk out of their classes, and converge on College Green for a rally. Later that day, participants will march down Court Street to the Athens Army Recruiting Center to protest the recruitment of the youth to fight these unjustified wars.
Although I do not think that a popular movement will have the power to drive out an elected president in the near future, this movement does have the power to create the political awareness that Bush should not be our president. If President Clinton could be impeached for perjury (regarding his sexual promiscuity) surely we can create an atmosphere in which Bush would be held accountable for his questionable actions.
In the latest USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, Bush's approval rating was about 39 percent. But disapproval means nothing if it is not acted upon. If you do not actively oppose the policies of which you disapprove, they will continue, and you risk becoming complicit in them. Those of us who oppose Bush must make it clear that his policies are becoming a liability to the progress and well-being of this country and the world.
If you disagree with Bush then exercise your democratic rights and actualize your opposition. Walk out of your class at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 2. Show the world that this president does not represent you. Show the world that democracy is not dead in the United States.
- Danny Burridge is a senior political science major. Send him an e-mail at db134102@ohiou.edu.
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Danny Burridge
