blog cacophonyRecently I passed my five-year anniversary as a full time employee where I work. (I contracted for a year before that, but it doesn't count.) I've had numerous jobs, but this is only the second company I've worked five years for. Five years is a long time... 28% of my career.
Five years in Iraq, and we are approaching 4,000 dead American soldiers. That is a lot. And is there any end in sight?
My God, look at what this war has cost the United States, England, "the Coalition of the willing," which I guess means about a hundred soldiers from Australia (or did they go home already?). FOUR THOUSAND soldiers dead. Untold numbers of Iraqis, too. A country thrown into ruins. Meanwhile, the American reputation around the world has gone to Hell, the American economy is spiraling down the toilet, foreclosures are at record high for record length of time, the savings rate is actually negative, and what did we get for it?
Um... Saddam Houssein is dead?
Help me out here. What else did we accomplish?
Because their sacrifice can never be repaid.
Five years. And no solution to the mess we've made.
But at least Bush is well rested.
March 18, 2008
3,990 and still counting
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6 comments:
More than tragic. I hope it's not the downfall of our great country.
Well, if you look at it from the prospective of what wars should be fought for, then yeah, it makes no sense. But war is business, and for those in that industry (I'm not talking about the soldiers) it's been very successful.
I don't think I'm qualified to comment; I'm a pacifist, which gives me a different perspective to begin with. I'm not sure how I would feel if I'd been supportive of the entrance into Iraq 5 years ago, and seen the consequences since. Still, our well-rested Bush (I can't believe that!) had this to say:
From Bush's speech:
"In his speech, Mr Bush dismissed what he called "exaggerated estimates" of the war's price tag.
"The costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq," he said.
He said recent troop reinforcements had brought about "a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror".
Mr Bush argued that fighting Islamic militants in Iraq helped to prevent attacks on targets in the US."
Another interesting opinion piece
chris, I totally agree. I doubt it will reach that point, but something new is needed.
BT, excellent point. It used to be that war was the last resort of the politician, but now it seems the first resort of anyone wanting to stimulate business.
aerin, if you pay attention then you are qualified to comment. And if you don't pay attention, then you are qualified to host a talk radio show. But eight hundred billion dollars later, Osama bin Laden is still out there.
Hmm. Putting all these together, I wouldn't be surprised to find Osama bin Laden on Halliburton's board of directors.
I happened across this quote on a.word.a.day site that seemed fitting:
There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare. -Sun Tzu, general (6th century BCE)
Sun Tzu is the author of the definitive work on military strategy, The Art of War, so he knew something of the subject.
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