Unlike much of America and most high-profile American entertainers, comedian Stephen Colbert hasn't forgotten that 134,000 U.S. soldiers remain mired in the horrors of the Iraq War: tonight, Colbert begins a week of show broadcasts from the war-torn U.S. occupied region.
Reports the New York Times today in a fascinating article about Colbert:
"It’s the first time in the history of the U.S.O. that a full-length nonnews show has been filmed, edited and broadcast from a combat zone..."Shortly after the inauguration... he began talking to a fellow board member at Donorschoose about the troops in Iraq.
"There was a general feeling among soldiers there, the board member said, that Americans had largely tuned the war out, that the economy had vacuumed up all the attention even though there are around 135,000 troops still here and still doing dangerous work...
"So the visit of Mr. Colbert, postmodern or not, was an unexpectedly high-caliber event among the recent string of retired baseball managers..., wrestlers, cheerleaders and actors whose names require a little Googling."
In fact, Iraq War violence appears to have taken a new turn for the worse. U.S. casualties have recently accelerated, and 83 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Obama took office.
(See Iraq War Facts, Results & Statistics at June 3, 2009 , a quick-reading one-page summary.)
And AP reports that an explosive, in-depth report will be released this week by the the Wartime Contracting Commission, a bipartisan legislative commission. The report will detail "a bleak assessment of how tens of billions of dollars have been spent since 2001."
While I've been writing for several years about the sickening U.S. waste and fraud rampant in Iraq, the AP article contains revolting new examples of federal and military incompetence and potential fraud in spending OUR tax dollars.
Which leads to me to ask, once again:
- What the hell is the U.S. still doing in Iraq?
- What is the military objective in Iraq? Do we even have one?
- Are U.S. soliders in Iraq being asked to die for nothing other than politicans' dithering, evasions and/or dishonesties?
And I have a new, urgent question: Is President Obama, who was nominated over Hillary Clinton largely due to his solemn campaign promises to withdraw from Iraq, ignoring his seemingly sincere, iron-clad commitments about the Iraq War?
(Remember, Mr. Obama? Remember all your pretty, soaringly appealing words about "how the war in Iraq will end." Where does Iraq withdrawal stand now, Mr. President ?)
To refresh your, and perhaps President Obama's, memory on his Iraq promises and statements, peruse these much-lauded Obama words:
- President Obama Sets Iraq withdrawal Timetable, Feb 27, 2009
- Obama Campaign Promises: Ending the Iraq War
- Senator Barack Obama: The Lessons of the Iraq War, March 21, 2007
- Barack Obama's Stirring 2002 Speech Against the Iraq War
Many liberals now legitimately fear that Barack Obama plans on conveniently "forgetting" or fudging on U.S. withdrawal from Iraq... just as he has dithered on or broken a stunning number of other campaign promises under the phony guise of of "bipartisanship" or listening to advisors.
Mr. Colbert may be merely an entertainer, and not a political player in the consequential scheme of things. But he's doing his part, and then some, for U.S. troops stuck in Iraq.
Colbert is delivering everything he can. One soldier sadly commented to the Times, "I’m surprised that anybody comes here."
I wonder... is President Obama delivering everything HE can to U.S. troops in Iraq?
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