By Joe Honick
One of the most important questions to ask of leadership of any kind is the simple inquiry as to what made them make the decisions they did. This is especially so when such decisions impacted the lives of millions of people, families and the fortunes of nations.
So, as we begin another annual trudge to the future, it seems both right and necessary to ask a lot of questions in the hope some rational answers might be forthcoming. Here are my “Why’s.”
WHY…
…did we actually go to war in Iraq?
…who were the actual enemies and who provided them with arms, money, organization and other needs?
…why could not the most powerful forces in the world fail to force those so-called insurgents to surrender?
…did we not demand that Iraq help to pay the bills for this conflict that not only cost the lives of thousands of Americans and NATO allies but Iraqi civilians as well?
…did we permit Iraq to auction off the oil fields our own troops had brought back to life without one penny coming to the American and other NATO nations?
…was it necessary to spend nearly $2 billion on private public relations firms to sell a war that was supposedly necessary?
…could we not find the WMD’s that were supposedly the root of the conflict as alleged by President Bush and his Vice President?
…did we not reinstate the draft to minimize the excessive redeployments of troops to the point suicides multiplied, families were broken and levels of post traumatic stress syndromes exploded?
…when President George Bush pronounced Mission Accomplished, was the mission apparently not accomplished?
…did we fail to tell the American public about the apparent widespread fraud by defense contractors, including some of the biggest names in American industry?
…in the face of massive unemployment and recession did we dump more than $7 trillion in the laps of industrial and financial institutions while squabbling that aid to the poor, education and health needs were somehow un-American?
…have neither Democratic nor Republican leaders asked these questions and demanded answers?
These are but a few of the questions that demand attention, questions not being addressed in a crucial presidential campaign year by any political pretenders to the White House.
Other questions are on line to be presented in another presentation. Perhaps readers can offer some of their own. But the demand for answers should not be reduced ever.
What are your Why’s?
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Joseph J. Honick is
president of GMA International in Bainbridge Island, Wash. |