The commander-in-chief has proven himself unfit to lead a nation, let alone a war, which was based on lies from the start and therefore cannot have a moral conclusion if allowed to run its course.

After reading of First Lt. Ehren Watada’s refusal last month to be deployed to Iraq, the first commissioned officer to do so, I started thinking, what if more and more troops just said no. Eventually there would be no one left to fight and kill and be killed.

At a news conference June 7, Watada said his "oath of office is to serve and protect America’s laws and its people. By refusing an unlawful order for an illegal war, I fulfill that oath today."

Hardly a week goes by without hearing about U.S. troops murdering or raping Iraqi civilians. What kind of people do we have in the Army and Marines? How did they ever learn to hate the Iraqis so much?

Because we shouldn’t be in Iraq in the first place, and only came to be there as the result of a deadly presidential deception, we have a few bad men who are putting our entire nation on a barbaric plane not more morally advanced than the terrorists we say we are fighting.

Sgt. Kevin Benderman is in a military prison because he refused to return to Iraq based on his experiences the first time around. His Conscientious Objector application was denied because while home to spoke his mind.

At a recent Congressional briefing about conscientious objection, his wife, Monica, said: "My husband went to war. He saw mass graves filled with dead bodies of old people, women and children. He watched dogs feeding on their bodies. ... When he returned home, my husband and I wrote publicly about our feelings for this and all war."

So they put him away. But what if hundreds more came home and refused to go back? Forty years ago they were called refuseniks, while those who evaded the first call to action were termed draft dodgers. They put them away, too.

After 40 months in Iraq, compare the costs with what we have gained and the equation is lopsided. More than 2,500 troops have been killed and about 18,000 wounded. More than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed. We’ve spent $300 billion, some of which could have been used for real problems we face in this country; the rest could have prevented such huge budget deficits.

What have we gained? Saddam has been deposed and we’ve installed a new government. We still have more than 120,000 troops there, but an insurgency bordering on civil war continues. The weapons of mass destruction used as the major reason for the invasion turned out to be a phantom.

For those whose aim was Iraqi oil, the country hasn’t been made secure enough for us to benefit. And after 40 months, the region has not been made more stable and the growth in terror has not been stifled.

Many in Congress, such as Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, agree that the president’s policy in Iraq has failed and they have pushed for a new "road map." But those alternative road maps are being offered by lawmakers who voted 45 months ago to approve Bush’s use of force against Iraq.

All they are calling for now is an occupation force that slowly dwindles, unlike the Bush plan that refuses to spell out any specific reduction in troops. They want "Iraqization" to occur just a little more quickly than the president.

And many, such as Clinton, refuse to acknowledge that the war was a fatal mistake. They still believe the invasion and war can be termed a success someday.

How can an unprovoked campaign that results in so many casualties even be considered in terms of success? We didn’t know why we invaded if it were not to find and confiscate WMD. Obviously, that was a failure. Next goal: make the world and U.S. safer from terrorism. Another failure.

This country’s leaders were so misguided or misled about Iraq that they refuse to even consider the idea that the best way to make it anywhere near right is to get out now.

And if they won’t do it, then the Americans who have seen the war for what it is have to apply all the more pressure on lawmakers to end the killing and pillaging.

And to complement that effort, it’s time Guardsmen and soldiers stand firm, recognize the illegitimacy of their commander-in-chief and stop the shooting, declaring "we shouldn’t be here; we want out now." Those not yet deployed should refuse to go.

They could make something of that old poster saying from the 1960s: "What if they gave a war and nobody came?"

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Cary Brunswick is managing editor of The Daily Star. He can be reached at (607) 432-1000, ext. 217, or cary@thedailystar.com.