2Bs 4 & 10 years ago

Yesterday, George W. Bush and Tony Blair "celebrated" their own peculiar holiday. Certainly not the glorious Workers' Day of May 1. Rather a day they will remember with mixed feelings.

Four years ago, the American president piloted a jet fighter to land on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Under a giant banner reading "Mission Accomplished", he proclaimed "major combat operations over". At that time less than 140 American soldiers had died in the Iraq War. Today – four years after the end of combat operations – the number is 3,350 and counting. In April, 104 U.S. soldiers died. And four year after the end of combat operations, Bush vetoes a bill setting a deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops. Four years after the end of combat operations, there are more troops in Iraq than ever. Nobody will be surprised that Bush is switching black and white again. According to Bush, “setting a deadline would demoralize the Iraqi people ... is a deadline for failure”. On the contrary, the first step to solve the Iraq mess is the withdrawal of the U.S. occupiers. Only when the mission of withdrawal is accomplished will the U.S. no longer be defeated day by day in the deserts, on the markets and in the backstreets of Iraq. It is not U.S. failure that is unacceptable to the civilized world, but the U.S. occupation itself.

Another infamous character, British PM Tony Blair, will remember the May 1st ten years ago when he celebrated his election victory. The British people voted for change after years of the Tory Major government. They hoped Blair would change Britain for the better. Now we know he will be remembered for blindly following Bush into the Iraqi quagmire. 69% of the British public believe he will be remembered most for the Iraq war.

Both Bush and Blair will go into history as – hopefully – the biggest war criminals of the 21st century. Some kind of accomplishment! (The Baltimore Sun: Wishin' accomplished)