Sitting in my living room, hoping that the NCAA Tournament would go on as scheduled and trying to understand how our elected officials were so stupid and incompetent.
My friends and I saw through the lies and the fear, why couldn't they?
One of the first things we all decided as soon as George W. Bush was elected, he would try to find a way to win “daddy's war”. It was just a matter of how, after 9/11 we knew.
We listened as Colin Powell prostituted his credibility on the floor of the UN. We listened as the as the stories of yellowcake drifted into the mainstream consciousness, and we knew. Our Congresspeople spoke with such conviction and fear of the possibility of an Iraq attack or an Iraqi sponsored attack. Were they lied to? Or were they so afraid of backlash that could result that they buckled? Either possibility is an attractive trait in our leadership.
Then came “shock & awe” fed to us like some sort of uber-realistic video game. This was not what our country was supposed to be. Fighting a war with a people that had done nothing to us. But here we were, watching it live on CNN. Most disturbing was the Nationalist fervor that swept through our country. Speaking out against this folly was called treason.
Today....
Sitting in my living room, enjoying my annual March Madness holiday and trying to understand how anyone could possibly still think the Iraq debacle was a good idea.
Total Coalition Deaths: 4,577
Total US Casualties: 31,102 (estimated, includes non-combat injury)
Statistics provided by icasualties.org
Iraqi Civilian Deaths: Estimated everywhere from around 100,000 – 1 million.
No one seemed to think it might be important to know the full human cost of this war.
Total Cost: So far estimates are somewhere in the $660 billion area, however that does not include long term care of soldiers or continued activities in the region. Most estimates put the total of the war someone around the $1 trillion mark.
Total US Casualties: 31,102 (estimated, includes non-combat injury)
Statistics provided by icasualties.org
Iraqi Civilian Deaths: Estimated everywhere from around 100,000 – 1 million.
No one seemed to think it might be important to know the full human cost of this war.
Total Cost: So far estimates are somewhere in the $660 billion area, however that does not include long term care of soldiers or continued activities in the region. Most estimates put the total of the war someone around the $1 trillion mark.
Our country sacrificed its founding values for what? The delusions of a mad man? The profits of Halliburton and military contractors? The lack of convictions/foresight of some of our elected officials?
Was it worth it?
