FLAIT

Originally Posted: May 2004
Final Revision/Posting:May 2005

Since the main rational for invading Iraq, WMDs, couldn't have been more wrong and turned out to be an embarrassment for the administration, Bush has tried to justify the war by saying Iraq is "liberated" and that the world is better off now that Saddam Hussein is behind bars.

While Hussein's capture and Iraq's "democracy" - if you want to call it that - is all well and good, it has come at a very steep price; a price Bush and the GOP never seem to take into account.

Therefore, let's take a look at what this war has and will cost to see if it's been worthwhile:

The Physical & Emotional Costs:

1. Over 1,700 American soldiers killed (includes non-combat deaths).
2. Over 10,000 American soldiers wounded (includes non-combat wounded); about 30,000 if you include "medical & psychological evacuees."
3. Over 250 Coalition casualty's.
4. Thousands of lost limbs, maimed and deformed.
5. Tens of thousands of GI's who will return with emotional and psychological problems.
6. Between 20,000 - 100,000 Iraqi civilians, police and "security" forces killed.
7. Between 50,000 - 200,000 (a guess) Iraqi civilians, police and "security" forces wounded.
8. Over 200 foreigners/workers kidnapped - half of them killed or still missing.

Unfortunately, all those numbers will rise.

The Financial Costs:

1. Over $200 billion on the way to $1 trillion for the first 10 years of this occupation....ah I mean "liberation."
2. Hundreds of billions more, if not $1 trillion, to rebuild Iraq; with Bush's and Cheney's crony's making all the profits.
3. The bribes Bush paid to the country's that did offer token support.
4. Health care, disability and financial assistance to disabled soldiers.
5. The costs to society due to the crimes some of these emotionally and psychologically effected GI's will commit over the next 30+ years.
6. The costs of psychological counseling and drug and alcohol rehab for all these GI's over the next 30+ years.

Unfortunately, these costs can only skyrocket.

(These costs and Bush's feckless tax cuts are all part of the Republican plan to purposely explode the deficit so they can force drastic cuts in Social Security and Medicare. But "starving the beast" as its called, has always been the GOP's goal.)

The Costs to our Military and National Security:

1. We're bogged down and it's no secret that our military is stretched dangerously thin. This could give our real enemy's - North Korea and/or Iran - an opportunity. China could also exploit the situation by moving on Taiwan. And we'll have to remain in Iraq for between three years and forever, stretching our armed forces that much more (our troops in Germany and Japan aren't in a hostile environment so any corresponding analogy won't wash. And the DMZ has been calm for 50 years).
2. Bush moved troops and equipment from the DMZ to Iraq.
3. The National Guard and Reserves were never intended to be stretched as much as they have and deployments have been extended. So technically, the draft has been in effect.
4. With the military stretched as much as it is, we weren't able to take action when Iran and North Korea started building nuclear weapons of their own. In fact, an argument could be made that they proceeded with their programs because A) they needed to defend their country's against a proven tyrant like Bush, and B) they knew we were stuck in Iraq and couldn't do anything about it (except of course to bribe the Koreans with aid; which is ironic because when Clinton did the same thing, the GOP had a fit and said he was "soft on terrorism").

Nukes built by No. Korea:

During Clinton's 8 years: 0
During Bush's 4+ years: about 6

Also, Iran wants to emerge as the biggest and strongest power in the region (Israel will sure love that). And with Iraq defeated - by our own hand no less - it gives them a golden opportunity to accomplish that because it was the belligerence between both country's that kept the other in check all these years. Great going Mr. President!

5. Fearing air strikes, Iran could take "preemptive" action of their own against THEIR "imminent threat" by attacking our troops in Iraq.
6. Because of the war, recruitment to our Armed Forces is down dramatically (despite lowering standards and increasing incentives). This will obviously have long term ramifications.

The Costs to the War Against al-Quaeda (which Bush turned into the "War on Terrorism"):

1. Bush foolishly pulled troops and resources out of Afghanistan in 2002 to go off on this wild goose chase in Iraq (yea, really), and that has allowed al-Quaeda and the Taliban to regroup (al-Quaeda has committed over 20 attacks in the three years since 9/11 after committing just four during the nine years before. Great job, Mr. President!).

And despite the election, the Karzai government is a sham, the war lords control most of Afghanistan and their heroin crop is flourishing.

2. In 2002 the military had tracked down al-Quaeda terrorist al-Zarqawi - who is not only behind many of the attacks, bombings, assassinations and kidnappings in Baghdad, but these ruthless beheadings - and drew up plans on more than one occasion to go after him.

But Bush was preoccupied with Iraq and was unable to give them the green light to pull the trigger (yea, really).

3. All the "bin Laden's" the Iraq war will create (this should not be underestimated).
4. The war has and will continue to be a great recruiting tool for al-Quaeda and other terrorist groups. It has also done wonders for their fund raising drives.

(May 2007 insert: Iraq a "big moneymaker" for al-Qaida, says CIA)

5. Al-Quaeda is using Iraq as "on the job training" by not only mastering their skills with assault weapons, shoulder fired missiles, mortars and IED's, but we're handing them valuable "intel" by giving them the opportunity to observe how our troops react to specific situations.

(Sept. 2005 insert: al-Quaeda and the Taliban are now using that "on the job training" in Afghanistan.)

6. While going after al-Quaeda with bombs and bullets is all well and good, Bush's obsession with Iraq allowed him to overlook a wonderful post 9/11 opportunity: to open a real debate with the Arab world (not that he'd ever think of something so practical anyway). Because over the long run, laser-guided bombs and the 82nd Airborne can only do so much to eradicate the threats against us.

The rest is done with a sagacious President who is geopolitically enlightened, and willing to engage the Arab world in a serious and honest dialog.

Unfortunately, that doesn't describe President Bush.

Only a bully can only do worse.

Unfortunately, that does.

The Costs to Iraq and Iraqi's:

1. Iraq's infrastructure practically destroyed. And reconstruction can't begin because it's too dangerous and money is being shifted to security.
2. Because of damaged water and sewage lines, not only is there a lack of clean water, but typhoid and hepatitis are on the rise.
3. Sporadic electric power and frequent blackouts.
4. An exponential increase in Iraq street violence - murders, rapes, kidnappings, assassinations, carjackings...
5. Iraqi prisoner mistreatment and abuse (ironically, Bush had promised an "end to torture chambers"). If that's not enough, most of the prisoners were innocent civilians and shouldn't have been there in the first place.
6. Corruption on the Iraqi Governing Council and Interim Government (surprise, surprise).
7. Ahmad Chalabi - a notorious liar, thief and con man who is now considered to have been a double agent spying for Iran - is, incredibly, not only one of Iraq's deputy Prime Ministers, but acting oil minister.
8. We can't pull our troops out until the country is secured and stabilized, whenever that is. But if the theocratic Shiites take control and order our troops out before then (with Bush declaring victory, of course), Iraq would become "terrorism on steroids" - total anarchy.

Hey, imagine what Iraq would look like if Bush didn't "err on the side of life!"

The Costs of the Wars Consequences:

1. Inflamed the Israeli-Palistinian conflict (only Arafat's death cooled things down).
2. The war has proven to be such a disaster that our only strategy for the immediate future is to avoid a civil war (at least the country was stable under Saddam Hussein).
3. The main road from the airport to the "Green Zone" is the most dangerous in the world.
4. We handed Falluja over to Baathists even though they're the regime we went to war against. But because they came under fire themselves, they handed control back to the insurgents who dug in and organized.
5. Militia groups still control a number of areas, including parts of Falluja -and if history is any indication, they'll continue to do so - despite our efforts to clear it out.
6. Foreign terrorists (al-Queada?) are using these areas as safe havens, and over time, more will slip through Iraq's porous borders and just add to the chaos.
7. The oil fields and pipelines are coming under repeated attacks (which affects the global market), resulting in an $11 billion (and counting) loss of revenue since the war started (Bush said the oil was not only supposed to pay for the war, but the rebuilding as well. And since he's never wrong, never lies or makes mistakes, what gives?).
8. It's possible that the insurgents, militia groups or even al-Quaeda could capture and gain control of some or all of the oil fields (won't that be nice?).
9. Members of Iraq's police and "security" forces are quitting because it's so dangerous. And those that do show up, are poorly trained, poorly equipped and incompetent; and many literally run away when the shooting starts. There's also a concern that some of them can't be trusted because they're actually helping the insurgents (yea, really) and that obviously puts our troops in even more danger.
10. The longer the violence and instability continues, the less chance there is of a stable secular democracy emerging (as if there ever was a chance of that happening anyway).
11. The new government could come down hard on womens rights (even under Hussein, Iraq had a good educational system and a decent economy because it was a secular society that permitted women to take part in it).
12. The new government could turn out to be an Islamic theocracy that has ties to Iran. So Iraq could turn out to be a bigger threat to us then it was under Saddam Hussein...who wasn't a threat at all!

Great going Mr. President!

13. When...ah, make that IF a legitimate government does take hold, it will have all the life expectancy and stability of the next day's assassination or truck bomb.
14. If the Kurds declare independence or move on Kirkuk it'll trigger a civil war, possibly with other Arab nations getting involved.
15. There's skirmish's taking place in northern Iraq between the Kurds and Turkish troops. Not only could that lead to a border war, but a civil war throughout the country.

If that's not bad enough, should the Kurds attack inside Turkey, it would trigger a NATO response and we'd be obligated - as well as the French - to come to Turkey's defense.

But would we?

The Kurds gave us their full support and cooperation in this war. In fact we paid for it. So it would be ridiculous for us to attack them, especially when some of the money we gave the Kurds was used to buy weaponry. How ironic would it be for our troops to come under fire by arms that we paid for?

So if this scenario plays out, would we abandon Turkey, our allies and our NATO obligations and wind up fighting them and the French? Republicans would sure love that.

Or do we go after the Kurds? The Muslim world would sure love that.

The Diplomatic Costs:

1. The Arab world hates us more than ever.
2. The people of Canada, Europe and the Far East - our closest allies - despise George Bush.
3. The governments of Canada, Europe and the Far East - our closest allies - have lost confidence in us because our credibility is in shreds.

How can Bush (heck, how can anyone!) take all the sympathy and support we received from the whole world after 9/11, and turn it into such animosity...practically overnight?

4. Because of the hard feelings they have with Bush over Iraq, our allies and the Arab world haven't given us their fullest support and cooperation in combating al-Quaeda and terrorism in general (yea, really).
5. Just look at who Bush and the GOP think our enemy's are, besides al-Quaeda and terrorists: "Liberals," France and Germany.
6. Just look at who our closest allies are, besides Tony Blair: Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

We trust the Iraqi's - many of whom can be seen cheering along side a burning American humvee - so much that we wouldn't give them physical custody of Saddam Hussein.

And the Saudi's not only torture their own people, but in 2003 tortured five innocent British citizens and two others into false confessions (they were finally let go after a trade in which Bush released five al-Quaeda terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. Bush is soft on terrorism!).

Also remember that bin Laden is a Saudi, 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi, and al-Quaeda gets much of their funding from Saudi's.

Saudi's also fund madrassas, which are terrorist training camps for children, and they're responsible for this wicked anti-American Whabbaism as well.

If that's not enough, Saudi's, who would like nothing more than to see the demise of Israel, have said that "Zionists" were behind the 9/11 attacks.

What great friends we have, huh?

Bush couldn't have done more harm to our foreign policy, diplomatic relations and international standing if he tried!

Conclusion:

Presidents should never risk the lives and limbs of our brave soldiers unless it's absolutely necessary. And contrary to Bush's lies, exaggerations and manipulation, Saddam Hussein could have been contained at a fraction of the extremely high risks, costs, lives, limbs, dollars and consequences than this war, regardless of what he had.

That said, we'll be paying an enormous price - for decades - for invading a country that did NOT have WMDs and to capture a dictator who wasn't nearly the threat Bush made him out to be. So it's obvious that this war was NOT worthwhile. Heck, it was asinine!

And anyone who says the war is "worth it" and they'd "still do it all over again" is either not paying attention, or must be as mindless and gullible as Bush, Cheney and the GOP needs him to be (this would be like betting against an instant replay for Christ's sakes!).

So let's not confuse Presidential leadership and resolve for narrow minded arrogance, political expedience, damage control and spin, because Bush would sooner poke his eyes out with an ice pick then admit he was wrong with this senseless war (heck, he won't even give us the old political standby - "mistakes were made" - regarding the 9/11 intelligence failures!).

Bush couldn't have been more wrong about Iraq. And he should be impeached and jailed for such colossal incompetence and for misleading the country into a very costly and unnecessary war.


Aug. 2005 insert: Is New Orleans another casualty of this war?