The Next Wave in Iraq
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Tens of thousands of followers of a radical Shia cleric marched through Baghdad Saturday, demanding the end of the U.S.-led occupation on the second anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s ouster.
In the largest anti-American demonstration since the invasion began, the supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr streamed into Firdos Square, where the statue of Saddam was toppled two years ago. (source)
It’s time to come home. The only satisfaction I get from all of this is the black eye our President has over taking us into Iraq in the first place. That’s little consolation after so many of our men have been killed there. I’m all for helping others out. I’m all for defending our country against threat. Here, we did neither. We assumed they wanted our brand of democracy. We assumed they had weapons of mass destruction. We assumed a great deal from the intelligence we had at the time. That intelligence was crap. And, I believe the President knew it.
Now, Iraq is tired of U.S. bullshit (I can relate). We can be there for the next twenty years. It won’t help.
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We all value life. But, it's obvious to me that, depending on who you are talking about, the value of that life has different weight.
We value highly the number of our men who were killed in Iraq. We put their pictures up on the TV. At the end of every the Lehrer News Hour, they display, in silence, the men who died that day. We do not display how many Iraqi's died that day.
We don't care, AND, we don't care if they were guilty of instilling terror, or not. We don't care that many of them were children. We don't care. That's the honest truth. We won't say that. They may get a mention of it on TV, but when we see the photos of the 20 year old men who were killed, many of us are brought close to tears.
When we hear that up to 100 children have died in the latest skirmish, we think that's awful, but then we go on to finish grilling that chicken on our grill or sipping a nice wine with good cheese... we go about or daily business... almost as though 100 dogs were killed... as though to say, "Oh well, shit happens."
It means nothing to us. These are OUR VALUES in this country. It makes me sick inside.
“...so many of our men have been killed there.”
Don't forget that over 20,000 Iraqi civilians -- including women, and children -- have been killed in the war. That's certain to create a grudge against the U.S. that will span generations. Our bombs did more than just blow up buildings. We shattered the families who lived in them. Our loss of just over 1,500 pales in comparison.
“We don’t do body counts.”
-- General Tommy Franks, US Central Command
You can bet that the Iraqis count the bodies of their loved ones. They believe that over 600 civilians were killed in the attack on Falluja last April. Over 300 were women and children.
I don't know how we can justify this. The Iraqis call it murder. Maybe we should, too.