A Modest Proposal
By Bill Ferguson Knight Ridder-Newspapers Salt Lake Tribune
Every great career eventually comes to an end, and when you're the
president of these United States, you only get eight years (at most)
to accomplish everything you set out to do. Then you're an
ex-president for the rest of your life. I'll bet that ex-presidents,
like most retired people, find it to be something of a shock to have
all that time on their hands when they leave the working world. So
they find things to do. They work on their memoirs. They build
libraries. They give speeches. They support their favorite charitable
causes.
But what about our current president? His term will be up before he
knows it, and then it's back to private life. I'm afraid the
transition will be especially difficult for [George W]. He is a man
of action, and I worry about how he'll adjust to a life out of the
spotlight. I think that we, as a nation, owe Bush more than the
customary parting gifts of an enormous pension and round-the-clock
Secret Service protection when he leaves office. I think we can do
better for him.
I think we should put him to work, and I know just where he ought to
go. Iraq. There is no question that Iraq will be the legacy of
President Bush's tenure, and there is also no doubt that there will
still be a lot of work to do there when he leaves office. I believe
we should allow Bush an opportunity to stick with the job even after
his term expires.
The next president should appoint George W. Bush to be a special
envoy to Iraq and charge him with the responsibility to oversee all
American interests there, advise the new Iraqi government, and
maintain the morale of American troops who are carrying out the war
effort. The position should be a permanent one, and he would not
leave until the "hard work" of helping Iraq to establish a working
democratic government has been accomplished. Or until he leaves this
mortal coil. Whichever comes first.
But surely he needs some trusted advisors by his side at all times,
and the first two names that immediately spring to mind are Dick
Cheney and Don Rumsfeld. These men have been instrumental in the
planning and execution of the Iraq campaign from the beginning, and I
can only imagine how much more effective their work could be if they
were onsite 24/7 right where the action is, getting their hands dirty
in the cause of spreading freedom to that dark corner of the world.
I know this assignment would be dangerous. The three senior freedom
fighters would be huge targets for the forces of evil in Iraq , and
there is a real possibility that one or more of them might meet with
an untimely demise in that chaotic environment. But as Bush has
reminded us time and again, the price is high but our cause is just.
Freedom is not free. I expect that all three men would be ready and
willing to undertake their assignments in the battle zone despite the
extreme danger they would face. This would be a chance to show the
world that they are willing to put their own lives, and not just the
lives of others, on the line for what they know to be right.
So let's start a campaign to send the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld team to
Iraq in 2008. They deserve the opportunity to "finish the job" in
Iraq , and I think that the sight of the three of them tooling
around the streets of Baghdad in a lightly armored Humvee would do a
lot to improve the morale of all Americans.
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
