Tonight George W. Bush spoke to the nation about the course of the war in Iraq. I frankly cannot see why anyone would believe any utterance that issued from his mouth, but let me address a few of his points.

First, Bush calls Iraq the latest battlefield in the war on terror. One might think that it’s the only battlefield, but sadly, we attacked Iraq before finishing our business in Afghanistan — what had been the nexus of terrorism before Bush’s Iraq adventure. And of course, the Taliban is not finished there, yet. Indeed, Osama Bin Laden is probably still lurking thereabouts.

Second, Bush claims, “We will prevent al-Qaeda and other foreign terrorists from turning Iraq into what Afghanistan was under the Taliban.” Far from preventing it, we have CAUSED it. Bush and his minions have turned Iraq into a terrorists’ playground, where Americans and Iraqis are being violently killed and maimed every day.

What Bush was not forthright enough to say — but what all Americans are coming to see — is that we are indeed hip deep in a quagmire of his devising. Americans want an honest discussion about a

timeline for American withdrawal , but that won’t happen because the ugly fact is that an honest timeline will be politically devastating to Bush and his wing of the Republican party.

All of this was avoidable. We never should have invaded Iraq, and having decided to invade it, we should have used the overwhelming force advocated by so many of our professional soldiers. Foreign workers and companies are making (and wasting or losing — or looting) billions, while Iraqis cannot find work.

Bush’s invasion was ill-conceived, planned with childish optimism, and poorly executed We were lied to about the evidence for our invasion, the real reasons for the invasion, and the costs of an invasion (already more than triple the dollar amount, and hundreds of times more than the cost in American lives as of “mission accomplished.”)

So, we are stuck with George W. Bush and we are stuck with Iraq. This is no coincidence. But George Bush owes it to the American public to admit the folly of his policies and enter into an honest discussion with the loyal opposition about the real costs of this enterprise.

He and his party must accept the consequences of American anger and disappointment over the fact that they have poured American lives, treasure and honor into creating a quagmire without making our country or any other country safer from terrorism; that we have been deceived incessantly over the reasons for our invasion of Iraq and its consequences; and that more American lives and treasure will be lost recovering Iraq from this unnecessary, completely avoidable disaster.