War deaths make him the No. 1 villain

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, January 3, 2007

President Bush was overwhelmingly voted the top villain of 2006; above Osama and Saddam. Looking at the supporting data, the title is appropriate. Deaths in Iraq due to Bush’s war are now over 600,000 by some estimates and the monthly death toll is approaching the 9/11 deaths. Bush is responsible for triple the Saddam and bin Laden-related deaths combined. Now Bush reportedly wants a surge in troops against the advice of just about everyone but his administration.

The Bush administration and certain news networks only report deaths of U.S. soldiers. How would we react if Saudi Arabia reported only 15 deaths on 9/11? They also say the world is a better place with Saddam out of power. Sure, Saddam was a bad man, but not to the extent that it was necessary to surpass his death toll to remove him from power.

Perhaps much of the problem stems from the fact that the Bush administration and its contributors are alone profiting from this war with little personal hardships. It is doubtful if they personally know any of the victims of this war but they certainly are making more money as it progresses. For this, his fellow profiteers have given him the title hero of the year. A true hero would have stopped the killing in Darfur, not promoted killing in Iraq.

Mike Myhre

Monroe