The Sad Truth About Bush and the Iraq War

[Scriptor Ignotus]

is that history will not judge it, it will forget it.

Ask the average American today why we fought in the Mexican-American War and they will not know.

Ask any American why we fought in the Barbary Coast War and they will not know.

Ask any American why we fought in the Phillipines and they will not know.

Ask any American why we fought in World War I and they will not know.

Ask any American why we fought in Honduras and they will not know.

Ask any American why we fought in Nicaragua and they will not know.

Ask any American why we fought in Panama and they will not know.

Ask any American why we fought in Grenada and they will not know.

It is doubtful most Americans even know that we ever fought in some of these countries. There are in fact, over 234 instances in which America used its military forces in various "engagements" throughout the world. (http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/foabroad.htm) I would recommend reading Howard Zinn's masterpiece "A People's History of the United States" for a detailed and eye-opening explanation as to why our fingers were/are in so many pies, so to speak.

In this particular and very tragic war, in which the reasons we went to war were so distorted and muddled, it is a virtual certainty that future generations will not know the truth about why we invaded Iraq in 2003.

So Mr. Bush, I say to you: history will not judge you or your actions. The scholars will. The "Liberal elite" college professors will. The military historians will use you as a case study of what not to do. But for that next generation, those future average Americans, they will never learn why so many had to suffer for your lies and distortions. And it certainly seems that neither will we...

[bryant69]

1. I don't agree

First of all most of those weren't wars - they were limited military engagements - some of them were even the right thing to do. I think a parallel between this war and WWI might work - they won't be able to articulate exactly why we felt the need to invade Iraq, but I think Vietnam is the better parallel. They won't know why we went into Iraq but they will know it was a mistake.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[madokie]

2. I'm with you B man

everyone within earshot of me will know why we went into Iraq because I will be exercising these tired old vocal chords

[Scriptor Ignotus]

4. the examples I gave do vary wildly

as far as why we fought and how many soldiers fought, but the point is most people today are oblivious as to why we fought or even that we did fight.

Vietnam is of course the perfect parallel, but I think most people know WHY we went: to stop the spread of communism. Whether or not they believe that was a valid reason is another story.

[Greyhound]

3. Any average amerikan can't name a single signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The average amerikan can't point to Europe on a world map. The average amerikan doesn't know any of their representatives, local or federal. The average amerikan thinks corporations are efficient. The average amerikan thinks we have a free market economy, etc., etc., etc...

Thankfully, history does not depend on the average amerikan to make its reports and judgments.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

5. those sound like below-average Americans to me

but there are certainly a lot of them out there. I heard this "man on the street" bit on a radio show the other day, and some guy thought Christopher Columbus was a former US President. Yikes.

[Greyhound]

6. You should be right, unfortunately this is not the case.

There have probably been 10,000 of these totally random surveys, conducted by everyone from professional pollsters, to late night talk shows, to a multitude of college projects, and the result are consistent.

It is hard to believe that we are that ignorant, until you come face to face with it. Hell, we tolerate a "leader of the free world" that falls into this category, remember his inability to answer a single foreign policy question during the primaries and the first campaign?

[Frank Cannon]

7. The difference between Iraq and the wars you cite...

is that we knew in those wars when to get the heck out.

I see you didn't mention Vietnam in your list. Most people know what a horrible mess that was. The Republicans know too, but they just don't care.

Believe me, the world will never forget Bush, nor his idiotic war.