Can you believe that it has been five years since our retard of a president declared war on Iraq?
Re-read that sentence if you need an additional moment of clarity.
Five years, and 3,991 confirmed U.S. armed forces deaths as of March, 19th 2008 according to the Department of Defence. Tens of thousands of our soldiers wounded (discharged & non-discharged). Iraqi military and civilian deaths? - Well that depends on whose numbers you believe. Estimates range anywhere from 50,000 to 250,000- maybe more as accurate numbers will never be validated by our government.
The surge you hear our leaders grandstand so much about in the last six months that is supposed to be working. Well of course they can claim it as a victory of sorts because the violence has lessened-- because we are paying the insurgents to not kill each other. Really, you can look it up in a variety of places. And that is your tax dollars. Why is the media or congress for that matter not investigating what happened to almost nine billion dollars that is missing.... hey, even Fox news- that bastion of the right wing with its fair and balanced reporting style, reported this in 2004. Where is the outrage? Are we all asleep?
Economically, this war is a mess for us as well. When Alfred E. Newman took office, we had a budget surplus that was unsurpassed in American history. He blew that and was already getting hammered by the press on economic matters leading up to 9/11 (Enron anyone?) when we all of a sudden got patriotic and decided to go to war on lies. We've spent upwards of 3 trillion dollars by the current estimates and who knows when we are going to get out. The upcoming election this year guarantees us nothing on this war. If McCain wins, he'll keep us mired there longer and if a democrat wins, all the blame will get put on them for anything further by the Republican spin machine. It is a no win situation for all of us. The Democrats are no better. Most of them voted for the war based on the fear machine put into action by the Bushies.
We've lost stature
in the international community in so many ways. It makes so many Americans ashamed to actually be an American... me included at times. People think that radical Islam is all of Islam and that they all want to kill us when that cannot be farther from the truth. Radicals exist in all religions and sects. If you don't think so, look at the Christian right in this country and examine the sad deeds of the Catholic church in Europe over the last thousand years. Now they want to try and extend the war into Iran when the Irani people actually want nothing to do with that and are the one of the most pro-American countries in the middle east.
Five years ago, I marched in protest of a pending invasion of Iraq. It was a just cause then and now we've decimated a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.
Sure, Hussein was a horrible despotic leader, but his country was safer in his hands than the hands of the Shiite and Sunni Muslims who are slaughtering each other for control (and I probably don't have that fact right). Millions marched around the world in support and now America is considered an aggressor who pushes for regime changes to serve its own economic interests.
We've lost so much-- we all have.
