I'm Sick of All This

I'm sitting here, watching the CBS Evening News (something i haven't done in awhile), and i'm getting sick to my stomach. The lead story was the war in Iraq, with a focus on the president's press conference earlier this morning (the transcript of the conference is here). The story reported on a CBS/New York Times poll which said that 76% of the American people disapprove of the direction of the war, that 61% of the people think we should never have gone to war in the first place, and that 72% think the country is "on the wrong track". The poll also said that about 60% favor attaching a timetable for withdrawal to the funding bill, but for some reason the CBS Evening News didn't think that was important enough to report. All that to say, the country kinda hates this war. But clearly that's neither here nor there because the Decider is charging on into the breach or something.

Which brings us to today's press conference, and the source of my sickness. The presser was on the piece of crap legislation that Congress is going to send to the president this week giving him $95 billion with no timetables for getting the fuck out. (Congress agreed to such a measure despite the previously mentioned poll saying that a large majority of the public wants a timetable attached to any further funding of the war.) The president did his usual thank yous to Congress for kissing his big white ass, with some bloviating about being the Commander-in-Chief™ and scare-mongering about how T3h Terrists Are Going to Follow Us Back and Eat Our Babies if we leave Iraq. The best part, though, came during the question and answer:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to ask you about the Petraeus report, which as you say, will be in September, and report on the progress. Doesn't setting up the September date give the enemy exactly what you've said you don't want them to have, which is a date to focus on, and doesn't it guarantee a bloody August?

[...]

THE PRESIDENT: It does, precisely. It's going to make -- it could make August a tough month, because you see, what they're going to try to do is kill as many innocent people as they can to try to influence the debate here at home. Don't you find that interesting? I do -- that they recognize that the death of innocent people could shake our will, could undermine David Petraeus's attempt to create a more stable government. They will do anything they can to prevent success. And the reason why is al Qaeda fully understands that if we retreat they, then, are able to have another safe haven, in their mind.

Emphasis mine. Don't you find that interesting? The president blithely dismissed the lives of probably thousands of Iraqi civilians--not to mention maybe 100 US soldiers. Yes, it's true that pointing to September as the time for reëvaluation of our tactics and long-term strategy may lead to a bloody August, as t3h Terrists try to kill as many people as possible to "influence the debate", but that's just tough shit for all those people who will die. You didn't want to die? You shouldn't have been in Iraq, suckers. Too bad if you were born there and have lived there your entire life. You should have picked better parents.

Thousands of people die, and the president writes it all off because it fits into his grander scheme of whatever the hell he thinks is right for the world. I think Black Sabbath put it perfectly:

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgement day comes.

Sick to my stomach.