Howard Dean made some good points in his recent message about John McCain's huge gaffe... but he made a statement that raises a fundamental question about what ought to be America's real priority in the debate about the Middle East conflict.
Here's what the chairman of the Democratic National Committee said:"John McCain so badly misunderstands Iraq that he's content to stay there for 100 years, something he's said multiple times. He has also failed to explain how he would pay for a war that is now costing you and me $12 billion each month -- money we could be using to help our economy here at home."John McCain wants us to believe that his decades of foreign policy experience make him the natural choice to lead our nation's war with terrorists."
Unfortunately for McCain, we need a leader who can defeat terrorism and command the global respect needed to achieve peace. Clearly, Barack Obama meets this qualification better than any other prospective nominee on either side of the political fence.
Obama's vision has been compared to that of Bobby Kennedy -- and his combination of talent, experience and youth provide assurances that we can rely on his leadership although the GOP sleaze machine will undoubtedly try to tear this nation apart before he enters the White House.
Where I think Dean's comments missed an important point is that the $12 billion in American taxpayer money wasted each month by the Republican war machine is the smallest cost of this conflict.
People are dying. Human beings are being maimed and mutilated. Life itself is being squashed, children are subjected to terror, families are being torn apart.
A general declared that "War is Hell" and we must never forget that fact.
Millions, billions, trillions... you cannot measure the value of human life in dollars. The destructive power of the American military is great, but it is the most terrible thing about this country.
America is not defending itself in Iraq. George Bush is not plotting an invasion of Iran to protect you. Our nation's unforgivable aggression is contributing to greater hostility against us and causing rapid growth in the terrorist networks that would really hurt our children.
America must stop killing other people and sacrificing the lives of our military troops in this unjust cause.
To achieve peace, America must be strong enough to accept peace. America must be resolute, courageous and principled. Fortunately, we are capable of that goodness.
I believe Americans would gladly save $12 billion, but saving the lives of thousands of children and other innocents is the real reason we need to stop the war.
