"In the fifth year of the war, the President's strategy has failed to meet those key benchmarks. President Bush continues to urge patience, but what is needed and what the American people are demanding is a new direction...
    "We will repeat that judgment legislatively as often as necessary, hopefully with an increasing level of support from our Republican colleagues, until pressure from the American people causes the President to change his mind and his policies."     -- Nancy Pelosi, July 12, 2007

    Open Letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi
    Date: Monday, July 16, 2007

    Dear Madam Speaker:

    In your speech of last Thursday, you correctly pointed out that President Bush has asked us for patience, and the American people have demanded a new direction. Bush has indeed insisted on patience for the last three years. He has used that time to send more and more of our troops into the no-win situation he created in Iraq. Last November, the people of this nation gave Democrats control of Congress because our patience with Bush and his administration ran out. Bush cannot change his mind or his policies. It is Congress that must change course in Iraq, and impeaching Bush and Cheney is the only way to do it.

    Albert Einstein once said, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."  That is why our patience ran out. Bush is psychologically incapable of changing his thinking. "Stay the Course" is the only thing Bush knows how to do; he cannot change. His mind is closed to anything else. Not only does Bush refuse to see the need for changing course, he has surrounded himself with advisors -- like Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales -- who reinforce this closed-mindedness by telling him that he's always right.

    Last August Bush vowed, "We're not leaving, so long as I'm the president." Bush honestly believes that staying in Iraq means victory, and that changing course means defeat. That is why he refuses to admit that his policy in Iraq has failed. As long as he keeps on pretending that "victory" is just around the corner, he can continue to deny the facts. Last May, Congressman Murtha correctly said that further military engagement in Iraq does not serve America's interests. Bush refuses to understand that; he cannot understand it, and he will not understand it. But Bush has not been held accountable for the damage his arrogance has done to our country. Instead, it is our soldiers and their families who are paying the price for Bush's close-mindedness.

    Speaker Pelosi, it is imperative that you understand: no amount of pressure from the American people will ever cause the President to change his mind or his policies. Bush is a plutocrat. He does not care what the American people think, and he never has. If Bush cared what the American people think, he would not have tried to increase the amount of arsenic allowed in our drinking water, as he did in mid-2001. Everything Bush has done in the last six years comes from this same mentality. The invasion of Iraq -- a war that has weakened our country -- stemmed from the same reactionary mindset that would have allowed polluters to poison our drinking water.

    Bush refuses to believe the facts, and that means he will be unable to solve the problems in Iraq. The disaster there will continue as long as Bush and Cheney are in office. And while Bush delays and delays, our troops are dying. They cannot wait for Bush's successor to take power two years from now. The war must end now, and Congress has the power to end it by impeaching Bush and Cheney. Waiting for Bush to leave office in 2009 will mean more American soldiers will have their tours in Iraq extended; more will serve for multiple tours; and more will be sent for the first time. How many more American troops will you ask to die in the next two years, knowing that there is no military solution? How many American soldiers will you allow Bush to send to their deaths for no reason other than his arrogance?

    This war is killing our people and weakening our country; and this war will continue as long as Bush is President. The only way to end the war is to impeach Bush and Cheney and remove them from office.

    Speaker Pelosi, Bush does not care about the lives of our troops or the security of our country. Bush is a selfish megalomaniac who only cares about himself. Bush will not bring our soldiers home, no matter what the American people think or what Congress does. The only way to end the war is for Congress to carry out the will of the American people. Bush and Cheney must be impeached and removed from office. It is the only way to end the war and save the lives of our troops.

    Yours sincerely,

    C. Colvin

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