The late President George W. Bush was fighting battles on three fronts in the summer of 2006. He was dealing with an ever-unpopular war in Iraq, an erratic conflict betwen Israel and Lebanon, and the possibility of having to go to war with Iran. His most difficult battle, however, was the one at home: Americans were becoming more and more disillusioned by the illusions and sleight-of-hand tricks Bush used to gain political advantage or enhance his personal integrity. In August, 2006 a plot to blow up airplanes leaving London's Heathrow Airport enroute to the U.S.A. was purportedly foiled. Although some believed it to be a 'terrorist act' fabricated by the Bush administration, the incident did manage to boost Bush's sagging approval ratings. By August 22, 42% of Americans approved of his performance; while not a stellar rating, it was several points above what it had been for most of the year. Politically, Bush needed to enhance his numbers if he was to be any help at all during the upcoming mid-term elections which were crucial to many Republicans seeking re-election. Bush held an unprecedented 56-minute press conference where he touted his resolve to "stay the course" in Iraq. "We will not withdraw from Iraq," he barked, "as long as I'm the President. To leave Iraq now would be a disaster!" Many thought the Iraq 'war' was already a disaster, but Bush handlers obviously felt he couldn't afford to back down. To save face, he would continue to allow U.S. soldiers to be killed in Iraq. The Bush line about bringing democracy to Iraq was wearing thin; it became evident to more Americans that such honorable intentions weren't the objective. When Bush told the media America couldn't leave Iraq until "the job is done", savvy observers saw through his veil. "The job" was to attain rights to all of Iraq's oil; it had nothing to do with democracy or freeing an oppressed people. In fact, Iraqi citizens were safer under dictator Saddam Hussein's brutal rule than they were under the American occupation of their country. By the end of 2006, more than 3,000 soldiers had died in the service to their country, all for what many Americans believed to be nothing more than a political sham.
By 2008, ten thousand U.S. soldiers had lost their lives in Iraq. There had been two major eruptions in 2007 which included a vicious nighttime attack on a U.S. base which killed almost 1,000 soldiers in one fell swoop. These men were preparing to go home - in fact, they were less than a week away from being shipped back to the States after having been in the center of the conflict for almost three years. These were young men whose leaves had been cancelled and whose tours of duty had been extended , and who had been ordered to remain in Iraq. A second attack just four months later left over 800 soldiers dead when an air strike by Iraqi insurgents bombed U.S. troops traveling in a convoy in the deserts of northern Iraq. Over 5,000 other soldiers would die in sporadic skirmishes which would leave four or five or twenty or fifty dead at a time. The fighting was escalating, and now Bush was sending troops into Iran for the same political and economic purpose: oil.
O.U.T.R.A.G.E. had methodically begun making plans in early 2006. A 'secret society' that had managed to remain 'secret', even though it ultimately involved hundreds of thousands of individuals, O.U.T.R.A.G.E. was now a force to be reckoned with as it went about the business of rebuilding and reforming the United States of America.