Hope?

Pop quiz:

When Liberals argue for a planned withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, they're labeled "defeatists" and "cut and run Democrats," and are shouted down in the halls of government by the Ruling Party.

When General George Casey, our top commander in Iraq, lays out a classified timetable for the withdrawal of American troops, with the first cuts happening in (who'd have guessed it?!) September of this year, he's labeled _______?

Time's up. Did you get it? Did your answer include the word "patriot," or the phrase, "We planned this all along"? Then give yourself a thousand points, America.

Once again, the GOP machine displays its Machiavellian brilliance at politically outmaneuvering the hapless Minority Party. For despite that second party's rightful claim that this type of a plan is almost precisely the thing they've been "traitorously" proposing all along, the fact that this news is officially emanating from the Administration is a trump card Dems are once again powerless to beat in the court of public opinion.

And I'll bet that any complaints about the suspiciously convenient timetable contained within this classified gameplan will only add fuel to the "whining, crybaby, hate-Bush-at-all-costs" Liberal reputation that's been so insidiously reinforced in the minds of half the nation for the past six years.

Nevertheless, I'm happy for the men and women in uniform, many on their third or fourth tours of duty, many obviously starting to crack under the strain of this fruitless exercise in PNAC imperialism. I really am. The individuals who are asked to put themselves in harm's way on my behalf deserved better, right from the start. So anything that'll get them home in one piece merits a sigh of gratitude.

Still, I do have to complain - regardless of the "never satisfied" insults I expect that complaint to incite from Conservative loyalists. Because the amazingly coincidental timing of this news, and the arbitrary target dates that seem designed to synch so conveniently with U.S. election cycles, make me angrier than ever at the architects of this deadly fiasco. That very timing itself confirms to me that the Bush Administration has been playing political football with the lives of those American men and women from the inception of this mad military adventure, an unprecedented pre-emptive invasion built on lies that's killed and maimed hundreds of thousands.

And in my book, that's nothing short of a criminal offense.

Unfortunately, it's become mind-numbingly obvious that there's nothing much we can do anymore but hope. Hope that Gen. Casey's plan really does start reducing our presence in Iraq within the next year. Hope that those pitiful few voices of opposition within a lethargic Congress will continue to press for answers as to why we were in Iraq in the first place - and for accountability from the individuals responsible for damage that will take decades to repair.

And hope that the American voter won't allow this Administration's "honorable withdrawal" (if it truly comes to pass) to erase a list of incompetence, malfeasance, and downright criminal behavior for which it has yet to take responsibility, either in the courts or at the polls. Hope that the citizenry won't forget that this "war" has done nothing but bankrupt our economy, destroy our international reputation, increase terrorist hatred of the U.S., and leave us more vulnerable to catastrophe than ever before.

Of course these days, with a population whose collective attention span stands at approximately 23 seconds, that may be a forlorn hope. Let's just hope I'm wrong.