By Maj. Danny Sjursen

November 16, 2018 "Information Clearing House" -   The whole charade plays best as farce. Absurdity incarnate. The sight of former President George W. Bush receiving a medal from Democrat Joe Biden – once an ardent opponent of Bush’s war policy – in Philadelphia for “his work with veterans,” on Veterans Day no less, induced nothing short of a gag from this veteran of two Bush wars – Iraq and Afghanistan.

George W. Bush, after all, led the U.S. military – to which I’ve dedicated my adult life – into two ill-advised perpetual wars, one of which was objectively illegal and immoral. In that war, in Iraq, some 7,000 American troops – including three of mine – were killed fighting in an unwinnable quagmire. Furthermore, though it slipped the attention of an American citizenry best known for its provincial inwardness, at least 250,000 Iraqis – mostly civilians – were killed. In a just world this would be labeled what it is – a war crime – but in this era of American hegemony, the populace simply sighs with apathy.

Now, we are told, it is time to congratulate Mr. Bush on his post-presidency work with the very veterans he created. Somehow, his choice to spend his retirement painting the faces of the misemployed, and often damaged, veterans he brought into being absolves him from the crimes of what this author is certain will be remembered as one of the worst presidencies in history. This fanfare is post-factual and illogical, but it certainly reflects our times.