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Aug. 27, 2005 The death toll in Iraq is a grave thing that is made even graver by the fact the Americans, for the most part, tend to be pretty upset about the whole deal. But why shouldn't we be? At once we were united against an unseen enemy, now we are stuck in a quagmire that is an endless war. While our brave men and women are forced to fear for their safety daily on an urban battlefield, our fine president tells us that he is moving on with his life and so should we. Did you all know that the Pentagon may have fudged its numbers a bit on the actual war dead in Iraq? You see, a little memo was leaked that shows that they do not count those that die "after" they leave Iraqi soil, even though their fatal wounds were inflicted in Iraq. With over 1,800 dead thusfar, the actual number, including those that died later, could be closer to 9,000. Don't believe me? Look it up. While I cannot confirm the fact, I would not doubt it. But at least our president is thinking about our troops, right? I mean, obviously in his mind, he is doing all he can to make sure they are safe, right? Remember how he told us that being president "is hard work?" Wow... I mean, I love when the chief executive of the United States, well thinking back over all of them, had the gall to tell the people just how hard it was being in charge. Now that I feel sorry for him, maybe I can forgive the fact that he spend most of his presidency either on vacation or stumping for other politicians. What this really reminds me of is Franklin Roosevelt and how he tirelessly made sure to avoid doing anything for the country during his three plus terms (he died in his fourth) as the chief executive. I mean, do we really need to look up to our presidents as leaders? Why should we when we can just feel sorry for them and watch as they tool around with pro athletes on their ranches. I know you have heard a lot about just how bad it is in Iraq and how it is just sad but lest we forget, it is a war of choice by our fine leader. After all, he felt a need to attack Iraq without provocation. Sure, Saddam was a big, evil nasty guy who did horrible things but are we so perfect in this country that we do not see some of our weapons- I mean, our own failings in him. Have you not seen the picture of Donald Rumsfeld handing the golden spurs to Saddam? He used to be our buddy, remember? But then I get the e-mails telling me that I am unpatriotic and that I have no idea how much better we are for not having Saddam in the world. Some might say that it is the Liberal talkers like me that are creating terrorists and trying to aid in their fight. I am not nor do I think it is right to give into terrorists. I just think that you can shake a hornets nest for so long before it explodes with angry hornets. The right wingers want to tell us that it is patriotic to send troops there and that we have a job to finish. We have fine Americans that would agree with that, blindly of course. But doesn't it kinda make your moral compass go haywire when you think that our brave men and women did not die to save Americans here but to foolishly lose their lives because our president just didn't know, or wouldn't tell, the people why he wanted to do it? Americans, for the most part, respect the truth. They may not like it but they respect it. If the president had told us that he wanted to take out a bad guy in Saddam just because we could and that it was the right thing to do to make the world a better place, I probably could have bought that. I bet even the world would have bought that, seeing that we "should" learn from history that scoundrels are not good for the world as a whole. But what happened is that he gave us reason after reason, lie after lie, changing at least 23 different times. Sure, he wasn't alone in this but, let's face it, he is the name we put to the policy. He can no longer just play dumb and allow for the errors of others to go unchecked. If your boss at work allowed his employees to get away with anything, he would not be your boss for long. The same goes for the military, where the supervisors are responsible for the actions of their insubordinates. As I sit here today, realizing that the end of the Iraq conflict will forever be a black eye on our country and with no end in sight, I just want to thank all of those people who do not just go along with what they read and hear and actually question the policy and see that this war is both unjust and thoughtless. For those of you that still want to believe that invading Iraq was good for America, I got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. ------------ About the author: Nicholas Olson is a long-time journalist who has been a columnist at his college newspaper and is currently a military journalist. 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