Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that our president lied or anything. When we look at “postwar” Iraq and see that the weapons of mass destruction are not only absent, but that there’s very little evidence to support their being developed in the last 10 years, we have to ask exactly why we went to war in the first place. Are we being lied to, or is “President” Bush just stupid?

David Key, chief inspector for the CIA in the search for weapons of mass destruction, reported to Congress his finding thus far in Iraq. Here’s a summary in layman’s terms:

In August 2002, the Bush Administration had “no doubt” that Hussein was amassing nuclear (pronounced NU-KLEE-UR) weapons for use against the U.S. To date, these weapons are nowhere to be found, and neither are Vice President Cheney’s anti-paranoia medications.

In March 2002, the Bush Administration said that Hussein’s biological weapons development program was in full swing and ready to launch an attack on the U.S. But again, no biological weapons have turned up. Even in “secret labs” in Iraq, no evidence exists to show these weapons were so much as being developed – much less stockpiled in some “anti-U.S.” storage room.

And chemical weapons? Iraq hasn’t made any or possessed any since at least 1991, according to Kay’s report. Besides, weren’t the ones Hussein had to begin with funded by our own president’s father?

Well, looks like “the most lethal weapons ever devised” only exist in Bush’s delusions of persecution.

And what’s going on with the “reconstruction” of Iraq? It seems more like the auctioning off of Iraq’s resources: oil and people. Who else would attend this auction but Halliburton and Fox News? Looks like Bush and his buddies are making a pretty penny for the “safety of Americans.” If he really cared, he’d have bought the duct tape and plastic for us.

Besides, I thought “this war [was] about freedom.” Yeah, freedom for the government to take away my freedoms thanks to the cleverly-named USA Patriot Act.

Where’s Bin Laden? Never mind that, here comes “President” Bush in full military garb flying a U.S. fighter plane. (We may remember Bush’s PR aircraft stunt performed while announcing the end of “major operations” in Iraq, but we could use a reminder that Bush himself went AWOL during his time in the military.)

As an anti-war activist who started complaining before the war even started, the “I told you so” which you might expect is overshadowed by the bitterness of knowing that lives are still being lost.

So, where are the weapons? Where is Bin Laden? Where are the gratefully liberated Iraqis? Where are my civil liberties? And why are soldiers still fighting and dying in Iraq?

Not for Iraq.

Not for Americans’ safety.

Not for freedom.

For re-election and for money.

Shelly Glorioso is a junior sociology and philosophy double major from Bowling Green.

The opinions expressed in this commentary do no reflect those of the Herald, Western or its administration.