Our current situation in Iraq reminds me of an old folk song: “Neck-deep in the Big Muddy and the big fool says to push on.”
Before the war, the Bush administration suggested that the war might end in six days or six weeks but doubted that it would take six months to finish. We were on the shore, looking at the Big Muddy.
Immediately after the American forces arrived in Baghdad, the Bush administration proclaimed, “Mission accomplished.” We were knee-deep in the Big Muddy.
Immediately after the Iraqi government was established, the Bush administration pointed to “positive signs” in Iraq. We were waist-deep in the Big Muddy.
Now, the Bush administration is saying that the insurgency is “in the last throes.” We are now neck-deep in the Big Muddy.
The only question is: Will the American people demand we make our way back for the bank and save ourselves, or will we push on to see if the water is over our head?
To everyone who wants to see if the next step puts us in water over our head: Take a few minutes tomorrow to call your son, daughter, brother or sister to ask them if they would be willing to enlist in the military. The rest of us will start working on planning a new course that gets us back to the shore as soon as reasonably possible.
— Art Halenbeck, Ventura
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