As we Louisianians celebrated Mardi Gras, the rest of the world was slowly preparing to go to war with Iran. The battle lines are being drawn at the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, America’s war rooms and in the palaces of the Middle East.

I can’t help but hear the absolute silence from all of the “anti-Bushers” who railed against President George W. Bush for years over his pre-emptive war with Iraq. Where are those people and their screaming now as battleships make their way to the Middle East and America prepares for war?

The argument against going to war with Iraq was that America was never attacked by Iraq. Well, we haven’t been attacked by Iran either, but the media and Americans in general seem silent about the upcoming war with Iran. It has gotten to the point where Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is using the famous Bush-era phrase of “weapons of mass destruction” to justify attacking Iran.

Do I think Iran must be dealt with? Yes. Do I think we are capable of dealing with this right now? No. However, any student of American political history knows that Americans don’t like to change presidents in the middle of a war. This being an election year, it is in President Obama’s best interest to engage Iran, the Middle East and the rest of the world in a battle over “good versus evil.” Sound familiar? This was the phrase used to beat the war drums when the Republicans went to war with Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, it will be the ultimate candidate-pacifist, Barack Obama, who will be waging a war on such vague terms.

However, this isn’t 2003, and America is not in the middle of a booming economy like we were when the first bomb was dropped on Iraq. Iraq didn’t have a nuclear missile and the U.S. Government wasn’t cutting the Defense Department budget to the tune of $450 billion as the Obama administration is currently doing.

Iran is now bragging about their nuclear capabilities, Israel is ready to bomb the hell out of Iran and President Obama needs a war so he can take the foreign policy issue away from the Republicans in the election.

Therefore, the anti-Bushers better start protesting Obama’s White House in an effort to show what a war-mongering president he has become. If Bush was evil for going to war with Iraq over “weapons of mass destruction,” it leads one to believe that President Obama should be held to the same standard. After all, regardless of the country we are fighting, it will be thousands of young men and women fighting on behalf of the rest of us.

The last bite…

Fried Chicken and biscuits. Beer. Pasta. Chili. Jambalaya. King Cake. Only in New Orleans on Mardi Gras day does that menu sound like a high-class feast! It didn’t matter how cold the chicken was or if it was your second or third bowl of chili because there was always another parade heading down the street! I give beads, fried chicken and beer 5 (out of 5) crumbs!

Buddy Boe, a resident of Garyville, owns a public relations and program management company and is well known on the local political (and food) scenes. His column appears Wednesdays in L’Observateur.