From outside the box

I keep scratching my brain, trying to figure out how we Americans can be so divided on this war in Iraq. Both sides believe they are correct in their point of view, and in that respect I will give it to the pro war folks, that they are sincere in what they believe. I believe they are sincere because they honestly believe we are fighting terrorist's who want to kill us, and there is some truth in that fact. But here's the thing....there have always been people, nations of people, who would like to see America wiped off of the face of the map. If we were truly out to get the terrorist's who did 911, why did we go to Iraq? Iraq never supported terrorism and they had nothing to do with 911. Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran supports terrorism but we aren't going after them. And I'm glad were not. If we went after every country that either supported terrorism or wanted to destroy us, world war 3 would have started long ago. Should Israel go after every terrorist country that wants to destroy them?

So why Iraq? I'll tell you why. Based on the fact that we hated Sadam, the Bush regime knew Iraq would be an easy sell. This war is not about killing terrorist's. If it is, we are going about it the wrong way because this war has created more terrorist's than we have killed. This war is about transferring the wealth of this nation. 911 was the perfect catalyst that Bush needed to take advantage of our collective anger. He could have justified bombing France or Uruguay and we would have bought into it. He used fear as a lightning rod, he played the patriotism card to the max, and we followed like scarred sheep, right over the cliff.

I have seen the videos of terrorist's in their training camps as they play on the monkey bars and fire rifles into the air. These guys are not a unified army, certainly they are not a true threat to America. 911 happened because a small group of fanatics caught us with our guard down. There were lessons to learn from 911 for sure. Going after Al Quida and Bin Laden in Afghanistan was certainly justified. But the rationing for going into Iraq, the reasons that seem to change every few months, the flawed logic, none of it adds up. The dots between terrorism and Iraq have never been connected.

WMD's were a fabrication, free the people of Iraq from an evil dictator was an excuse, Sadam's connection to Bin Laden was a myth, and establishing democracy in a country of warring fundamentalist Islamists is a childish concept to say the least. These were all wet lies on the finger of George Bush as he held his hand into the air to see which direction the winds of patriotism were blowing. Which lie would stick? Now that they have all been dispelled one by one, it seems they've decided to hang with the "terrorist that want to kill your family" thing. This would all be very funny if it wasn't so damn tragic.

We Americans have so far spent $8,000 for each and every man, women, and child in this country on the war in Iraq. How many of you good old boys that work your ass off everyday to barely make ends meet would have written a check or handed over your credit cards to the corporation of Bush or Cheney's choice to make this war happen if you would have been asked to up front? Well, that's what you've done, that's what we've all done. How many families would have said, "Take my child. If it will fill the corporate coffers, you can have my child's left arm, or his eye sight, or his life." This war is the greatest evil and the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the American people. I hope that in the end, we will at least learn a lesson from the experience. But I won't hold my breath. I thought we had learned from Vietnam, but I was wrong.

For information on the costs of this war and the outrageous profits by government connected corporations, check out
http://www.citizenworks.org/corp/corpkilling.pdf