Credit: Steve Schirra

People like to know what’s coming up next. But with the November election just around the corner, Democrats and Republicans alike have come under fire for not having a plan.

The Associated Press yesterday explained President George Bush has started criticizing Democrats for not having a plan for the war in Iraq and other issues of national security. True, Democrats have never been known for organization. While there are plenty of Americans who are liberal leaning, we can’t even organize ourselves to get out to the polls and vote.

However, these recent comments come from a man who recently changed his personal motto. Time magazine yesterday stated that Bush’s “stay the course” mantra has been replaced. Now, get used to hearing Mr. Bush say the situation in Iraq will require “constantly changing tactics to meet the situation on the ground.” We all know that Bush himself did not put together that combination of words, but what does it all mean? Simply put, Bush doesn’t haven’t a plan.

Ha! Even the almighty Republicans have met their match. “Constantly changing tactics” is just another way of saying, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Bush is pro-benchmarks and against timetable. These tricky uses of vocabulary tell us nothing and only make us focus on the fact that the president is capable of learning new words.

Bush needs to watch his mouth when passing judgment on the Democrats. It doesn’t matter if the Democrats don’t know what to do about the war in Iraq, when the Republicans, so-called the leaders in national security, have no clue what to do next.

So listen closely, my friends, for once I am putting the Democrats and Republicans on the same level. I am lashing out against the party I love to prove a point. It’s a war, in case people have forgotten. It’s a war being fought with guerilla-like tactics, something the United States has never been good at defending itself against. (Remember Vietnam?) So logically, neither party can have clear-cut way to solve the ever-changing war.

Regardless if the United States decides to be taboo and “stay the course,” there’s no real way to anticipate what’s next for Iraq. Just in recent weeks Iraq has seen corrupt militia members, assassinations of public officials and one of the bloodiest months in the war. It’s going to be tough no matter what. But pointing fingers back and forth in a witch hunt to figure out who knows the least about stabilizing war-torn nations doesn’t solve problems, it just proves that even more people are to blame for the current state of the Iraq War.

Jen Steer is a junior broadcast news major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].