Two days after 9-11, the president spoke to the nation, and I listened. I listened to him talk about the War in Iraq with us like we were children. I listened as he told us about the importance of the Iraqi people, their hopes and dreams, and so forth. I listened to everything he said, waiting and wondering what the big statement (if any) would come forth. Then, I listened to the president say the war in Iraq would go on after he leaves office. Bam. He said it, and I listened.

No matter what people think about our 43rd president, I have always taken his statements seriously. When he said we were going to war in Iraq over four years ago, I knew it would happen. When he said that he would not change his stance, that he would not fire incompetent underlings, or that New Orleans needed to fix itself, I believed him. In his mind, he thinks these things are true.

By the time he leaves office, the president will have had six years to wage war on the other side of the world, and he will do nothing to stop it. It will continue in the same manner it has for the last few years. He can tell me the surge is working, he can tell me they are seeing improvements in Anbar, he can tell me that America has no choice but to succeed. In his mind, he thinks these things are true.

Congress can bicker about this and that. Supporting troops, bringing them home, in harm's way or whatever. The fact remains that this war will not even begin to stop before George W. Bush leaves office. He started a war he couldn't stop. He has emptied the treasury paying friendly companies to keep the war machine going. He allowed gas prices to double without batting an eye. People have gotten rich off this awful war, but not really the American people.

America was a part of World War II for about four years. In four years, they bombed and battled the Germans, Italians, Japanese and the rest of the Axis gang for the power of the world. In six years in Iraq, they found a dictator on the run, put him in prison, put him on trial and allowed other people to hang him. Other than that, not much has been accomplished. The Iraqis voted with purple fingers, and the puppet government hangs on by a thread. But we will stay because we have to succeed.

This war has not been the bloodiest or the longest, by any stretch. In our last prolonged war, more than 50,000 troops were lost in Vietnam, and Saigon still fell. According to our current president, we never should have left. Apparently, more fighting after fifteen years in a tiny Asian country just wasn't enough time to win the fight. Yeesh.

If it were up to the current administration, we would be at war in Iraq indefinitely. Bankrupt the nation in the guise of spreading democracy to foreign lands. These days, we're just trying to build up a foreign military that we tore down four years ago. It is not a stretch to say that the ends of this conflict will never justify the means.

But there was our president talking two days after the sixth anniversary of 9-11. Talking about the conflict he began with a preemptive strike. A voluntary war based on inaccurate intelligence and data. Some would say a war based on lies. Our president says he cannot and will not stop what he started. Once you unleash the first of the four horsemen, he will not ride back when you call.

It didn't surprise me that our president said the war would continue after he was gone, but when he actually said it, I did feel an uncomfortable tingle. This is the work of the powers that be. This is the work of incompetence. This is the work of evil.

The upcoming 2008 presidential election has become an incredibly simple choice for America. Do you want the War in Iraq to continue or do you want it to end? There's no guarantee it will stop regardless of who you pick. The horseman is loose and our current president will let him ride.

Thanks, Mr. President. 16 months to go.

Chris Jungle finishes what he starts.