Columnist Ruthe Deskin: President needs some serious help

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003 | 8:19 a.m.

Is President Bush just a stubborn guy who is going to have his way no matter what the consequences?

Of is he blessed with some divine guidance that evades us mortals?

There's no debate that the United States is in an ongoing struggle in both Afghanistan and Iraq, where highly trained American troops are daily victims of snipers in a guerrilla warfare.

When the enemy uses an unorthodox approach, the textbook approach to modern warfare needs a quick revision.

Our military forces are facing snipers and terrorists daily. Some of the people we were supposed to rescue -- and did -- from a cruel regime no longer welcome our military with the exuberance of the initial liberation.

So why does President Bush insist on going it alone in Iraq? Why is he so adamant about refusing to consider a greater role for the United Nations in Iraq and a speedier timetable for ending U.S. occupation?

Only the president knows for sure, and his reasoning hasn't impressed his constituents, as his popularity continues to tumble.

Obviously he has a purpose, and that is to keep us all mystified. It's time to let the U.N. enter the fray and give us a hand.

You hear it every day.

Someone will say, "Where have all the years gone?"

It was the spring of 1961 when my college-bound daughter made a startling announcement.

"I applied for the Peace Corps today," she said.

A few months later she was on her way to the University of Pennsylvania for basic training. Learning survival techniques in the Pennsylvania woods was a new experience for her, but she made it through and became one of the first women to be sent on a Peace Corps mission.

Her destination was a small village in the Philippines.

I remember the day we put her on the plane to leave. She was crying. I was crying. Her dad was crying. Perhaps we had been too hasty, but she insisted it was her choice.

The Peace Corps was an idealistic program born during President Kennedy's term. Sargent Shriver, Kennedy's brother-in-law, was named director of the project.

The idea was to send young, and sometimes mature, American adults to foreign countries to live with native populations and help teach everything from English to engineering, agriculture, medicine and other subjects.

Peace Corps volunteers were required to live in the same circumstances as those they served. Many suffered culture shock, which actually weeded out the weak from the strong.

After two years my daughter came home to another world. Instead of the crudest of living conditions, she basked in the glory of a hot shower and modern facilities.

But it was an experience she will never forget. This week in Chicago, of the 96 volunteers who were based somewhere in the Philippines, 38 survivors are meeting for a long-delayed reunion.

The Peace Corps was an incredible adventure for these young men and women, who willingly gave two years of their lives to try to make life a bit easier for inhabitants of foreign lands.

The popular Old Timers' Reunion Party is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at Stardust Convention Center. For reservations call 798-4789, ext. 103.