One of the things I learned through all my business ventures was that if something didn't work, it was time to try a new strategy. Eventually, I got it right.
Assessing options and planning new strategies are essential for success -- for success in business, for success in personal life, for success in general. One would think then that it would also be essential for governments.
In Iraq, thousands of people have died. They are still dying. And tomorrow and as long as we are there, they will keep dying.
As President Bush speaks to the Veterans of Foreign War, he says that we owe something to our soldiers who have died in Iraq -- we owe them to finish the job, the cause for which they lost their lives.
As President Bush continues speaking, the assembly in Iraq is still working on the constitution that will make them a democracy. Yet it seems to be a constitution forged by and agreed to by two of the three Iraqi factions, the Shi'ites and the Kurds.
This leaves the Sunnis -- the same ones who make up much of the insurgents -- feeling disillusioned about the political process and likely vehemently more angry than they were before.
Let's see here... We are in a country where the majority of Iraqis do not want us to be. We are in a country where the majority of Americans no longer think we should be. And President Bush pushes pig-headedly forward -- not looking at options, not changing a losing strategy and instead, by creating the deadlines for the constitution and its ratification, further alienating those who are causing harm to our troops.
Where is the sense in this? Where is the logic? Where is the ability to use diplomacy, to negotiate, to really and truly care about and honor our troops by working hard to keep them alive?
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Written in collaboration with Jennifer Hicks.
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