Degrading political ads need to stop

Note: The following article contains information that was found to be untrue. The existence of Kodee and Dan Hennings, and Colleen Hastings was a hoax. 

Click to Read, DE duped in hoax

LeNie Adolphson
Having my say

"Some are now attacking the president for attacking the terrorist. Some call for us to retreat putting our national security in the hands of others."

This new ad was unleashed by the Republican Party in Iowa on behalf of President Bush. This ad is a preview of what we are going to see in 2004. It has a menacing tone and degrades those who disagree with Bush's handling of the war. Some in the Bush administration have leaped to explain that this ad is not questioning the patriotism of those who disagree or, as the ad says, attacked the president. Yet their proclamations of innocence are disingenuous. It is obvious that the "some" that the ad is referring to are the Democratic opponents, two of whom are highly decorated Purple Heart and Bronze and Silver Star veterans. Yet the ad that ran in Iowa makes the contemptible insinuation that those who disagree with President Bush support terrorism. This is dirty politics, and it equates disparagement with spinelessness.

The irony is that the ad presents the president delivering the 2003 State of the Union speech which we now know was a colossal embarrassment of admitted distortions, including one based on a forged document that Iraq was a nuclear threat. It was in this speech President Bush bandied the imminent threat scenario. The undiscovered weapons of mass destruction were discussed, and, of course the implication that Saddam Hussein collaborated with Al Qaida on the Sept. 11 attacks, a charge that the president recently conceded was without merit.

In fact, the Iraq war has proven that preemptive self-defense is not a sound premise because the intelligence that it was based on turned out to be the proverbial house of cards. People are dying every day, and unfortunately the terrorists seem to have become reenergized. American soldiers, Iraqi civilians and coalition troops from other countries are being killed and shot every day. Yet President Bush told us major hostilities had ended.

Many Iraqis who have been interviewed by the BBC have stated we didn't like Saddam and we are glad he is gone, plus we appreciate the help, but now we want the Americans to leave too. An Iraqi cleric has also requested the occupation end immediately. Children such as Kodee Kennings want their parents home NOW. Are all of these people sympathetic to terrorism because they see Iraq is a debacle?

All of the democratic nominees were contacted about the ad, and all of them said it was outrageous to imply any of the candidates support terrorism simply because they do not concur with the handling of the war. Gen. Wesley Clark summed it up well when he stated, "I am not critical of President Bush because he's attacking terrorist; I'm critical because he is not attacking terrorist."

In spite of these ads, what would be truly unpatriotic is if the presidential candidates and Americans stop talking about this military action. Every day more and more people are seeing that it was a farce, and now it's a political football.

The Iraq war and occupation have been a major distraction from the war against Al Qaida. Despite the fact that fair-minded people are distressed at these types of negative and polarizing ads, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

Karl Rove, a major adviser to President Bush, planned to use Sept. 11 and the war to frame President Bush in as a tough leader and the Democrats as wimps who are cavalier about terrorism. Former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, a triple-amputee Vietnam veteran, voted for the Iraq war authorization. His Republican challenger, Saxby Chambliss, defeated war hero Cleland in 2002 by using attack ads that questioned Cleland's patriotism. In these ads, Cleland's face was presented alongside Bin Laden and Hussein as if they were one in the same.

Terrorism is appalling, and it has to be stopped. Nevertheless, to imply through veiled hints and malevolent innuendo that any of the candidates running support terrorism is despicable and repulsive. In conclusion, it has been stated, "The appeal to patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

Having my say appears every Tuesday. LeNie is a senior in history. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.

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