OPEN COLUMN
With war in Iraq, Bush is trading blood for oil

Editor, the Tribune: Recently President George W. Bush flew to Iraq, wasting more fuel to try to convince our troops that they were winning the war on terrorism. The truth is that no matter how many terrorist leaders we kill or capture, the conflict will continue as Bush is fighting the systems and not the causes.

Why are there so many in Iraq willing to die to bring us harm? Could it be our foreign policies that exploit their resources and establish military bases in 120 countries? Perhaps they see us as a bully trying to police the world, forcing our government, religion and way of life on them.

It would be better to correct the causes, which are illiteracy, disease and poverty. With these corrected, individuals would have something to live for and be less likely to give their life to harm us. By killing innocent civilians in Iraq in a misguided war and our inhumane treatment of prisoners, we have caused hate throughout the world. Much of the world sees Bush as the biggest terrorist of all. We have no intention of pulling out of Iraq as we are building a $1.5 billion permanent base there.

The reason we went into Iraq is the same reason for staying there: to protect the oil supply. It’s time we developed our own fuel. In the meantime, we could get cheaper oil from Venezuela. However, Bush doesn’t like their president because he and the rest of South America protested his war with Iraq. How much blood must we trade for oil?

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Louis Anesi

5661 E. Middleview Road, Centralia

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