According to President Obama, the much heralded war in Iraq is over. I don’t know whether to say amen, or shutter to think what the future holds in store for that God forsaken country. A review of the casualties finds nearly 4,500 American servicemen dead, close to 50,000 injured and well over 100,000 Iraqis, military and civilian, removed from the population rolls. These figures don’t begin to account for the dead and injured among United Nations troops, often called “the coalition of the willing.”
By war’s end nearly one trillion dollars was poured down a rat hole with little to show for it. To add insult to injury, billions go unaccounted for, even to this day. No wonder we are in such a steep recession.
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To date no one has established a connection between Iraq and the 911 co-conspirators. As a matter of fact, Al Qaeda’s presence in Iraq was non-existent. It was only after President Bush’s ill fated invasion that terrorism found a heaven on Iraqi soil.
While many returning veterans continue to experience post traumatic stress, or lack the medical assistance to adjust to life at home, George Bush and Dick Cheney continue to lead charmed lives. Like the Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg before them, Bush and Cheney should strand trial at The Hague and account for their crimes against humanity.
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While the boy king chopped trees and rode his bike around Crawford, TX, and Cheney featured the nest of Halliburton, his former employer, with no bid government contracts, some of our ablest men were sent off to die for a baseless cause.
Our country is on the brink of a depression and the Iraqi War contributed mightily to this predicament. Follow the dots…they lead to Bush not Obama! More importantly, what have the United States and Iraq gained? Before the war Iraq had full time electricity and now has it for a few hours a day. Additionally Iraq had fully functioning hospitals and schools. Now their infrastructure is a shambles. It will probably take ten years or more to restore their society to pre-war status. Saddam Hussein is gone, but what a price to pay. The Arab Spring of 2011 probably would have disposed of him the way it ousted Khadafi of Libya, Mubarak of Egypt and the other entrenched tyrants of the Middle East.
American soldiers have barely left Iraq, yet sectarian violence has once again broken out. In the last day or two suicide bombers have run amuck in Baghdad killing nearly 70 civilians. Oil was our real purpose in Iraq, unfortunately none was gained. I support our efforts to keep rogue nations like North Korea and Iran in check. However, we must also look inward to insure that our rogue politicians are kept in check and that fiascos like Iraq never happen again!
