An Open Letter to President Bush

Dear Mr. President:

In the immortal, if fictional, words of Dr. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, 4077th M*A*S*H, in a telegram sent to President Harry S. Truman (and copied to the Secretary General of the United Nations):

“Who’s responsible?”

I think you know the answer to that question, and it’s just two words, if you’re being honest – the answer, should you care to utter it, is:

“I am.”

Tell me if you plan to utter those words, as I want to book a skiing vacation waaaaaaay down under, if you get my drift.

It’s been a hell of a week for me, just thinking about life and people and war and politics and it’s given me food for thought.

I accidentally caught the documentary “Bush’s Brain” on the Sundance channel last Sunday morning. All throughout, my stomach churned, but particularly the whisper campaigns about Senator John McCain’s adopted daughter (she happens to be a child of color) and Max Cleland are subjects requiring the penance of many.

Who’s responsible? You are. Not Karl, not Karen, not any other suited youngster trying to be the perfect Alex P. Keaton in your campaigns -- YOU are responsible.

Our country is better than Abu Ghraib, better than what you forced Colin Powell to do at the U.N., better than the “sixteen words” and the close-to-assassination of Valerie Plaime. Who’s responsible? You are.

Our country is better than this war we’re in.

I’ve been watching hour upon hour of M*A*S*H while at home lately and the later seasons, in particular, are so good at making sure that the viewers understand the horrors of war. I get it. And Colonel Sherman T. Potter said to one young man in a very touching episode, “There’s probably been more stupidity completed in the name of manhood than for any other reason.” I think the good Colonel is right.

The Doctrine of pre-emption is one of those “stupidities” enacted in the name of manhood.

This morning, I read Newsweek. Cover to cover, something I rarely do.

Haditha.

The horror. The horror.

But of course, our Marines behaved as they did. Drugged, sensory-deprived. Hot, paranoid…are there no psychologists involved except for psy-ops in this nation’s military? Given the conditions, the behavior seen at Haditha is all but guaranteed.

The conditions we place our troops in right now in Iraq are indicative of man’s inhumanity to man.

And there’s only one man who’s responsible -- you. And even if you take the stage with a backdrop of repeated “buck stops here” messages, it won’t be enough. It's too late. Too many kids are dead.

Because you crossed the Rubicon; you crossed it when you used the word “crusade.” You added insult to multiple injuries when you declared "mission accomplished," and you can't take it back.

So, so sad.

With all due sincerity and respect for the Office,
A disenchanted subject.

And a big hello to the Domestic Spying folks who pick this up and read it, too, feel free to leave comments.