Letter: Saddam should be tried, executed before U.S. leaves

Monday, Aug. 15, 2005 | 10:27 a.m.

line LAS VEGAS SUN

Although many are irritated by President Bush's extended vacation, if you think about it, the frequent vacations may be good for the country. Since just about everything he has touched in his four-and-a-half-year presidency has gone awry, maybe cutting wood and clearing brush is his strong suit and his talent could best be used out in the pasture.

As the Bush cronies prepare their "stand down" scenario for Iraq, the presidential spin doctors must come up with buzzwords that will allow Bush to avoid using the phrase "cut and run," as America is on its way to defeat in a senseless war for a second time. The months will drag on and the toll of dead and wounded will continue to escalate as our troops are sitting ducks for the insurgents who strike with remote control bombs, then blend into the population just as the Viet Cong did for years.

While true terrorists are free to make videos to inspire and recruit suicide bombers, our resources continue to be wasted on the quagmire that is Iraq. It is asinine to believe that the Iraqi military will be able to stand up to an insurgency that our highly trained and competent troops cannot control. Cut and run is the best we can do to extricate ourselves from this ill-advised and poorly planned invasion of Iraq.

Between vacations, stumping for radical Social Security reforms and lowering environmental standards, the president better make sure that Saddam Hussein is tried and executed for his crimes before we stand down, so that the sacrifice of our fallen and wounded soldiers has meaning. If not, this dictator will be back in power before George Bush can declare, "Successful stand down accomplished."

PHIL VENTURA