Iraq Blogstorm

I've been thinking about what I could add to the disent of the current occupation of the White House by one George W. Bush. A president (in name only) who has taken this nation in a direction that goes against every principle that every day Americans hold dear. Where to even start. From his stealing of the elections in 2000 and 2004 to his current approval of waterboarding never has there been such an assult and disreguard on the constitution of this country. And not only has this administration preverted the electorial process it has gone one step further by eating it's own if you recall Katherine Harris.

September 11 occurs and after routing the talaban to the edges of Afganistan and realizing that there were no more good targets, our wonderful administration even after finding no evidence of links to Al Quida or WMDs goes after Saddam Hussaen a dictator supported by Reagan and Rumsfeld. And we know that there was evidence that attacks (911) were planned against this country by a presidential briefing presented to George W. in August. Then there was the Downing Street Memos that gave an indication that Boy George was going to go after Sadam even if there wasn't evidence. So we have "Mission Accomplished" but somehow three years later and a few thousand American lives later the mission isn't accomplished. In fact if you ask any of the military there what their mission is at the present they'd be hard pressed for an answer. My guess is that the mission now is to stay alive and try to make it through the numberous stop losses and hope you'll come out of this mess with half your sanity and all of your limbs intact. The book Catch 22 keeps comming back to mind when I hear troops having to go back for yet another tour.

So what has America gained by going after the wrong criminal? Has there been some magical change to democracy in the countries in that part of the world? Obviously not. Did Americans get lower gas prices having secured a country with large oil fields? No. Did America really make conditions better for Iraqis? Only in a few limited areas of the country. And you must remember that over one million Iraqis left the country because they could see no bright future as George had predicted. And then there's the death toll. Reaching nearly 4000 U.S. soldiers killed since the start of this war. And now are we even told of who these brave people were? No. There are no images of flag drapped coffins. Only a name or two might make the local news. The ultimate sacrifice has been reduced to numbers. Isn't that a wonderful way to honor the troops. You've been reduced to mere numbers. And don't try and shoot me for saying all of these things I'm only giving you the truth. The hypocrites in the White House yes your commander in chief and his minions have talked a great game of "Support the Troops" while at the same time stabbed you in the back. Ask your injured commrads how they are being treated when you get back to the states. Ask them if they got the full disability they deserved for having their lives permenantly changed. Are they getting the treatment they need or are they having to fight for it. Nothing says Support your Troops like having a soldier fight two wars back to back. The first in combat and the second in beurocracy stateside. At least in ground fighting you have your buddies to watch your back. Then there was the promises of education and other benefits when you got out. Sorry it was just that, a promise. This administration would rather spend a half a million dollars on an outhouse in some godforsaken place half the way around the world than give even the scrapes to our troops. And again don't blame me I'm as pissed about all this as you who may be reading this.
Collateral damage- ah yes we are totally shielded from any truth here. It's usually a quick blurb at the very end of the nightly national news. X number of Iraqis killed by a car bomb in a market on whatever day. Sometimes they'll mention that they were civilians. Sometimes you don't know if any soldiers were killed or injured until days later. And the casualty figures of Iraqis. Estimates have it somewhere between 600,000 and 1,000,000. It's not broken down by any stats of male female child.
So what will be gained by staying in Iraq. Not much that I can see. Would you want a permenant occupyer in this country? Will the next leader of Iraq be any better than some of the past tinhorn dictators that we've supported? And the real tragedy in all of this is not just the lives lost and the injuries suffered but the monetary cost to the U.S. With the amount of money spent (wasted) we could have easily rebuilt Americas' infrastructure, provided healthcare to every American, and increased benefits to military families and our troops in the field. Soldiers comming home could look forward to having a job rather than the unemployment line and homelessness.

So to whomever takes over the White House next January... It's time to get out of Iraq. The men and women of the U.S. armed forces have done their job and then some. Let's bring them home now.

(Note: sorry for the typos and spelling I'm not going to proof read this just post it)