The War in Iraq

I'm not sure where to start this post regarding the war in Iraq. It has been going on for the past four years now, with 1,600 American soldiers dead and 30,000 wounded. Of course, that does not take into account the countless hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead or wounded.

This war has been a failure. Created by a Bush Administration controlled by neoconservatives with their own imperialist ambitions, and marketed to the American public using lies, deceit, and terrorism fears, the Bush White House has dragged this country into a wasteful war which has killed some of our best young citizens and wasted so many countless billions of dollars. We did not need to invade Iraq. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was not a hotbed of terrorism--it is now after the invasion. Saddam was never a global threat--he may have been a regional threat in the Middle East, but he was also contained by a U.S. military in the region and the no-fly zone. There have been so many lies out of the White House, that the American public seems almost de-sensitized to it. The White House continues to link terrorism to Saddam Hussein while bludgeoning the American public with terrorism fears and warnings. The American media doesn't challenge any of the statements from the Bush Administration, but rather they follow along complaisantly reporting the lies. It is a never-ending story.

Let's face it. We have been suckered into this war by some of the most reprehensible men to occupy the highest positions of government. We are to be blamed for allowing these individuals to take us down this awful path of war and destruction. We elected them into office. We sit complaisantly by as they spoon-feed us with more lies and fearmongered warnings on how terrorists are infiltrating our country. So we give up our government. We give up any sense of social safety when Bush cuts more social services from the budget while still increasing spending for the war. We give up our civil liberties where we can be detained as enemy combatants without due process. We give up our citizenship when we do not demand accountability from our government--when we do not demand that those who were responsible for lying to us are punished for their transgressions, but rather those who have lied to the American people are rewarded with greater power and greater perks.

We no longer deserve to live in a democracy.