On this Fourth of July, President
Bush compared the Iraq war to the
Revolutionary War, and called for
“more patience, more courage and
more sacrifice.” Unfortunately, it
seems that nobody asked the obvious
question: “What sacrifices have you
and your friends made, Mr. Presi-
dent?”
On second thought, there would be
no point in asking that question. In
Mr. Bush’s world, only the little peo-
ple make sacrifices.
You see, the Iraq war, although
Mr. Bush insists that it’s part of a
Global War on Terror(™), a fight to the
death between good and evil, isn’t
like America’s other great wars —
wars in which the wealthy shared the
financial burden through higher tax-
es and many members of the elite
fought for their country.
This time around, Mr. Bush cele-
brated Mission Accomplished by cut-
ting tax rates on dividends and cap-
ital gains, while handing out huge no-
bid contracts to politically connected
corporations. And in the four years
since, as the insurgency Mr. Bush ini-
tially taunted with the cry of “Bring
lhem on” has claimed the lives -of
thousands of Americans and left
thousands more grievously wounded,
the children of the elite — especially
the Republican elite — have been
conspicuously absent from the bat-
tlefield.
The Bushies, it seems, like starting
fights, but they don’t believe in pay-
__________
The Bushies are
different from you
and me.
__________
ing any of the cost of those fights or
bearing any of the risks. Above all,
they don’t believe that they or their
friends should face any personal or
professional penalties for trivial sins
like distorting intelligence to get
America into an unnecessary war, or
totally botching that war’s execution.
The Web site Think Progress has
summary of what happened to the
men behind the war after we didn't
find W.M.D., and weren’t welcomed
as liberators: “The architects of the
war: Where are they now?” To read
that summary is to be awed by the
comprehensiveness and generosity
of the neocon welfare system. Even
Paul Wolfowltz, who managed the
rare feat of messing up not one but
two high-level jobs, has found refuge
at the American Enterprise Insti-
tute.
Which brings us to the case of I.
Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr.
The hysteria of the neocons over
the prospect that Mr. Libby might
actually do time for committing per-
jury was a sight to behold. In an opin-
ion piece in The Wall Street Journal
titled “Fallen Soldier,” Fouad Ajami
of. Johns Hopkins University cited
the soldier’s creed: “I will never
leave a fallen comrade.” He went on
to declare that “Scooter Libby was a
soldier in your — our — war in Iraq.”
Ah, yes. Shuffling papers in an air-
conditioned Washington office is ex-
actly like putting your life on the line
in Anbar or baghdad. Spending 30
months in a minimum-security pris-
on, with a comfortable think-tank job
waiting at the other end, is exactly
like having half your face or both
your legs blown off by an I.E.D.
What lay behind the hysteria, of
course, was the prospect that for the
very first time one of the people who
tricked America into war, then en-
dangered national security yet again
in the effort to cover their tracks,
might pay some price. But Mr. Aja-
ml needn’t have worried.
Back when the investigation into
the leak-of Valerie Plame Wilson’s
identity began, Mr. Bush insisted
that if anyone in his administration
had violated the law, ‘That person
will be taken care of.” Now we know
what he meant. Mr. Bush hasn’t chal-
lenged the verdict in the Libby case,
and other people convicted of similar
offenses have spent substantial peri-
ods of time in prison. But Mr. Libby
goes free.
Oh, and don’t fret about the fact
that Mr: Libby still had to ‘pay a fine.
Does anyone doubt that his friends
will find a way to pick up the tab?
Mr. Bush says that Mr. Libby’s
punishment remains “harsh” be-
cause his reputation is “forever dam-
aged.” Meanwhile, Mr. Bush em-
ploys, as a deputy national security
adviser, none other than Elliott
Abrams, who pleaded guilty to un-
lawfully withholding information
from Congress in the Iran-contra af-
fair. Mr. Abrams was one of six Iran-
contra defendants pardoned by Mr.
Bush’s father, who was himself a
subject of the special prosecutor’s in-
vestigation of the scandal.
In other words, obstruction of jus-
tice when it gets too close to home is
a family tradition. And being a loyal
Bushie means never having to say
you’re sorry.
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