*** ORBUSMAX GUEST OP/ED ***

"America, Wake Up": Another Viewpoint - By Mike Cornelison

May 26, 2004

Editor's Note: The following is a response to the speech given by Captain Dan Oimette to the Pensacola Civitan Club , Feb, 2003. The speech can be read by clicking here.


Captain Dan Ouimette, USN, made a speech before the Pensacola Civitan Club entitled "America, Wake Up". The speech has been published on "The Orb" web site, and widely circulated in e-mail chain letters. This is a response to Capt. Ouimette's speech.

Here is a quick summary of the captain's speech:

Islamic terrorists have made 18 major attacks on the USA since 1979. Until recently, the USA has been asleep and has ignored these acts of war. If we do not wake up and take action, our way of life is threatened. Support our troops and President Bush, who has had the courage to take action where his predecessors did not. It is above politics. It is our patriotic duty. Capt. Ouimette states that we have been attacked, and that the President has the right and duty to take action to defend our country. Of course, no reasonable American would disagree with this.

He then equates opposition to President Bush's policies as tantamount to being stupid ("asleep") and unpatriotic.

The real issues were not addressed: are President Bush's policies the right policies? Will they be effective? What are the alternatives? Are we allowed to debate and criticize without being accused of being stupid or unpatriotic? President Bush and his cronies (and Capt. Ouimette) would answer NO.

These are the kind of patriots that would have stayed loyal to King George in 1776.

The current policy of using military power for forced imposition of a new Iraqi government has been a disaster for the US and for Iraq. This policy has also INCREASED Islamic terrorism, which should be obvious by now, even to President Bush or Capt. Ouimette.

Here are some alternatives that President Bush should think about. (Actually some of these are belatedly being considered, now that the initial military solution has proved to be stupid).

a.. Apologize to the Iraqis and to the world for the mismanagement of the occupation, needless killing of non-combatants, POW torture, and the general scorn for Iraqis shown by our troops.

b.. Fire Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Rice. There must be accountability, and President Bush needs to show the Iraqis and the world that he is serious about making changes. VP Cheney should also be fired, since he was the main driving force behind the attack on Iraq.

c.. Give overall responsibility to the UN, or at least create a partnership of equals. This is to show the Iraqis and other Arabs that we are not there to plunder their oil or create a puppet regime (most of the world still believes this was the goal).

d.. Change the military rules of operation so that the lives of Iraqi non-combatants are valued and protected. So far, the opposite has been the case, and this is the MAIN reason the Iraqis hate us and want us to get out. The downside would be more risk to US troops in the short term, but less risk in the long term if Iraqi opinion can be turned around.

e.. Put Iraqi police and military resources under UN control, with primary responsibility for security. They can ask the US military for help when faced with something too big, like the power-mad cleric Moqtada Sadr and his private militia.

f.. Proclaim to the world that the US will not try to establish military bases in Iraq.

g.. Promise the Iraqis generous reconstruction aid, and eliminate US companies from reconstruction contracts, using Middle Eastern, European and Russian companies instead. Maximum use of local resources should be required, instead of importing foreigners.

h.. Get as much help as possible from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, and Syria. Start with a big conference under UN auspices. Put aside our scorn and disdain for "axis of evil" countries in order to get something constructive done.

I hope it is not already too late. President Bush should start reading newspapers, change his policies, and try harder to make Iraq a success.


Mike Cornelison

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