A surge in Iraq

President Bush says he wants to send more troops to Iraq. He says it is the only way we will win.

I wonder why we should trust him.

This President has consistently short-changed our troops, the American people and the Iraqi people. He sold us all a bill of goods. He told us it is possible to win a war in which sacrifice was only required if you or a family member are in the military. There is no requirement for anyone else to sacrifice. He told us we could throw out the Powell doctrine of overwhelming force and instead place all of the burden on a relatively small number of troops. As a result, his Presidency is and forever will be a failure.

The legacy of George Bush is ineptitude in wartime leadership and ineptitude in managing our federal budget. As a result of his leadership thousands of kids will grow up without their parent. Millions of their friends will be saddled with trying to pay of the massive federal debt left to them by George W. Bush.

But the President asks for our trust and our faith. After four years of failure, somehow, he finally has figured it all out. I don't believe him. Because once again there is no call for common sacrifice. If the President had it figured out he would understand that the way to beat the terrorists is to take away their money and their money comes from oil. So what should the President do?

1. Set a floor for the price of oil. How's $60 a barrel sound? Why is this important? Because we need to make the price of oil stable at a high enough price that the private sector will be willing to invest in alternative energy development. Right now, the private sector fears losing a ton of money in alternative energy because OPEC can simply drop the price of oil and undercut the pricing on alternatives.

2. Raise taxes on all Americans making more than $100,000 (individually) per year. Divide that money between paying off the debt and alternative energy development.

3. Set a date to get out of Iraq. My vote? January 12, 2008. One year seems like fair warning for the Iraqi people.

I originally supported the Iraq invasion because I think we have an obligation to get rid of those leaders who commit genocide. But the effort has been bumbled and pathetic. Mistakes were made and those mistakes have cost thousands of lives.