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We are now in the fifth year of the Bushites’ grand adventure in Iraq. Let’s assess.
More than 3,200 of our forces are dead. Nearly 25,000 have been wounded, quietly shipped home to a veteran’s medical system severely crippled by cynical funding cuts, privatization scams, and shameful neglect,
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Direct costs of the war will top half a billion dollars this year, and long term costs are in the trillions. Today’s taxpayers are not asked to pay for this – instead, it’s all being put on the credit cards of children yet unborn.
Iraq itself is now in civil war, with our troops caught in the middle and despised by both sides. It’s going so badly that the once-swaggering George W. – “Mr. Mission-Accomplished Man” – now meekly begs the public for patience, promising only that some sort of vague “victory” is still possible, maybe, sometime.
The guy who once bragged that he’s the “war president,” quietly commemorated his war’s anniversary with a brief speech in the middle of a Monday morning, as though trying to hide. And why wouldn’t he? Bush’s approval rating is below 30 percent.
The American public overwhelmingly wants our troops brought home. Yet, senate Republicans block even the meekest measures to get this done. Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the democratic frontrunner for president, says she would keep American troops there indefinitely to protect U.S. “vital national security interests.” Does she mean oil? Does she mean to use Iraq as a base for war with Iran? She doesn’t say. Maybe she should consult with the Iraqi people. It’s their country, after all – and they want us gone.
This is Jim Hightower saying… The only thing that has gotten stronger after four years of misbegotten war is public opposition to it. We have to do this ourselves. We must be strong where our leaders are weak. To help stop the madness, call United for Peace and Justice at 212.868.5545.