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A Lethal Year
Charley Reese
Lew Rockwell.com
Monday November 12, 2007
The pro-war crowd has been emphasizing the recent drop in American
casualties in Iraq, measured by the month, but the fact remains
that 2007 has been the most lethal year of war for Americans,
and it's not over yet.
At this writing, 853 Americans have died in 2007, which tops
the previous record of 849 in 2004. Altogether, 3,858 Americans
have lost their lives in Iraq. The sad thing is that they are
dying for nothing, because the cowardly Congress refuses to stop
the war by cutting off the funds.
The administration defines "winning" as a stable, democratic
Iraq able to defend itself. That's really a definition of a no-win
war. The only way to establish stability with Kurds, Sunnis and
Shiites at each other's throats is to find another dictator ruthless
enough to force stability at the point of a gun. In other words,
you can have stability with no democracy or democracy with no
stability. Take your choice.
Either way, it is not worth the life of a single American.
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It's time for the American people to face the question, "What's
in it for us?" That's not being selfish. It's our blood and
our treasure, so surely the American people have a right to expect
some gain for this sacrifice. So what is it?
The answer is nothing. The corporate friends of the Bush-Cheney
gang have gained plenty of profits, but they haven't shared them
with the dead soldiers. Or with the American people, for that
matter. Whether Iraq has a new dictator or becomes an Islamic
republic aligned with Iran, Americans will have no friends in
a country we wrecked while killing at least 100,000 Iraqis and
displacing 2 million more. It will be a long time before any nonsuicidal
Americans put Iraq on their places-to-visit list.
The Bush administration has been the most secretive and deceptive
bunch to occupy the White House thus far. The truth is, nobody
knows for sure what the motive for going to war against Iraq really
was. I read one theory that the neocons, the chief proponents
and pushers of the war, envisioned the convicted embezzler and
exile Ahmad Chalabi running the country and making peace with
Israel. If it's true, it was a pipe dream based on ignorance.
Nobody in Iraq who had suffered through Saddam Hussein's rule
was going to turn the country over to some corrupt exiles who
had been living the high life in London and Washington.
Regardless of why we went in, it's past time for us to get out.
The Iraqi people don't want us. As long as we stay, we will be
looked upon as occupiers, and the insurgents will keep whittling
away at our forces. Occupation cannot be sustained in a hostile
environment, and bribery won't change the way the Iraqis feel.
We have done the people of Iraq way too much harm for them to
forgive us.
There is no reasoning with President Bush. He's as likely to
attack Iran as he is to withdraw troops from Iraq. The only answer
is to pressure Congress to find the nerve to cut the purse strings.
There will be enough money in the pipeline to safely withdraw
the troops. Keeping young Americans in harm's way when their lives
and limbs will be lost for no gains is not by any stretch supporting
the troops. You support the troops by getting them out of harm's
way, just as Ronald Reagan did after we lost the Marines in Lebanon.
Iraq may or may not have a bloody war after we leave. That's
up to the Iraqis. It's no skin off our nose whether they reconcile
or draw their knives. It's their country. Let them fight over
it if that's what they want to do. The Bush administration has
not done one single thing right in the Middle East, and the situation
in the whole area is worse and more dangerous because of these
blunders.
American withdrawal would be a blessing to everyone concerned.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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