On one hand we impeach a president for a lying about having oral sex with an intern and on the other we allow a president and his henchmen to go to war in Iraq without a conceivable outcome, no personal or fiscal responsibility or exit strategy.
Let's take a quick look at the cost of the U.S. invasion of Iraq so far. The Iraqi numbers are a smidge elastic as we, to quote General Tommy Franks, "don't do body counts." As of today's date:
- US military deaths in Iraq war: 4,143
- Wounded: 30,509. Wounded includes maiming, head injuries, amputations, dismemberment.
- Iraqi civilian deaths from 86,658 - 94,553 civilian deaths in Iraq since the U.S. arrived there. Other estimates exceed 150,000 to 1.25 million.
- Iraqi Injuries: Unknown
- Iraqis Displaced: Unknown
- Cost estimate: $3 trillion for the cost of the war and the clean up afterwards including long term treatment of our soldiers, the wearing out and replacement of military equipment, rebuilding Iraq.
- Who pays the bill: US taxpayers.
- Who benefits? To be determined.
The mission on entering Iraq was changed from a search for weapons of mass destruction - when they were found not to exist - to a "war on terror." I've got news for you: there is no such thing as a war on terror any more than there can be a war on outrage or anger. Have a war on hunger, cancer, or poverty. At least those are tangible.
The people who are fighting us in Iraq, labeled as insurgents and terrorists, are in fact religious and cultural groups, fanatics perhaps, who are opposed to our being there. They have been in Iraq and the environs a lot longer than we. Their response to our presence is a perfectly normal and healthy response; one that we Americans would gladly give an invader to our country.
After his capture, Saddam Hussein told his interrogators that what he had said about weapons of mass destruction before the invasion was bluster to keep the Iranians - a very real daily threat - at bay. Bush accused him of massacring his own people. True, but compared to what we have done in Iraq, Hussein looks like a rank amateur. At the end of the day there wasn't even the slimmest of connections between weapons of mass destruction, 9/11, Al-Queda, Osama and Iraq.
One Man
The reality is that we are facing one man, Osama bin Laden, who, with a pocket-full of family cash and 19 highjackers, killed 2,974 people from 90 different countries, destroyed the World Trade Centers, four airliners and put, unimpeded, a large hole in the center of U.S. Defense, the Pentagon. Bin Laden, the brains of the operation succeeded in accomplishing what seven years of war, untold expense and loss of life have not repaired, unraveling the social fabric of the United States.
Bin Laden is linked to an organization that gave Bush a focus to respond to in his call for revenge because having just one person responsible, while true, would have been incomprehensible and a hard sell to the gullible (us); al-Qaeda (meaning 'database,' formed in 1988 to fight the Russians in Afghanistan).
Unfortunately due to its inherent secrecy and structure of semi-autonomous cells, al-Qaeda's size and degree of responsibility for particular attacks are difficult to establish if at all, its leaders and operatives geographically dispersed.
We fought groups we named as al-Qaeda's (they have no distinguishing marks or uniforms) - an unconventional enemy - with conventional methods and lost; much as the British did when our founders fought them. Silence doesn't signify that we've won the hearts and minds of the Iraqis, it means we've killed the opposition or they're waiting it our for us to leave. The more adequate response to catching Bin Laden would have been to allow our military - our special forces - to pursue their own actions in finding him using covert means.
Civil Rights
In doing all of this, we as Americans have seen our civil rights eroded, for example, when we transfer money, it's recorded and reported - lest we be terrorists or money launderers. Huge databases of information have been compiled on each and every one of us. At political rallies protesters are put in special 'protest pens.' We have now a special category of prisoner, for ones held on U.S. territory without charge, recourse to their detainment, without representation or hope of justice in Guantanamo Bay. Neither they - the prisoners - not we, know why there are being held. We use mercenaries to fight our wars and call them "Security Contractors," to whom we have paid $100 billion to date. Moreover, unlike our military, we made the mercenaries immune from prosecution. Torture is a routine practice for prisoners, condoned by our president. We no longer televise the return or burial of our soldiers and our war coverage is severely censored.
Of course even the most mentally challenged among us know that the country we should be invading is the self proclaimed 'in your face' soon-to-have-nuclear-weapons-that'll-fit-on-top-of-our-rockets Iran. Who knows? We may yet pay them a visit as it might help secure a Republican president.
Bushes inner circle included Cheney, Rumsfeld ("look at me I can stand at my desk for eight hours") , Karl Rove. Colin Powell disappeared after his mistruth to the UN. Condoleezza Rice was never one of the guys, and was, and still is, used as a runner for Cheney and Bush. Eventually public outrage got Rumsfeld the boot and Rove got out when the vultures began to circle. Cheney is hardly ever heard from any more. As a lame duck president Bush has become increasingly irrelevant. Just when we needed him the most. The war, however, goes on.
While the buck stops at Bush, and so it should, both Cheney and Rumsfeld are career politicians and knew exactly what they were doing. They lied to the American people and continue to deny it, hiding behind executive privilege and arguing about semantics much as Clinton did about the definition of the word "is."
Our politicians in the White House are a living example of absolute power corrupting absolutely; without any personal responsibility for their actions. Let's not forget: Our soldiers were sent into battle with piss-poor vehicle armor, low on ammunition and no personal protection. The President declared "Mission Accomplished," years ago. In January, when the as yet to be elected new president is sworn in, Bush, Cheney and their merry men - and woman - will pack up their stuff and quietly slip away, without any accountability.
So what have we achieved in Iraq? Bottom line - nothing. We have created a power vacuum which will be filled by Iran and Syria as soon as we leave.
Meanwhile, bin Laden remains at large.
[http://www.butlerreport.com/BREditorialBushesblunder.html]
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