The Iraq War has damaged us more than the attacks of 9/11

[Roland99]

And I mean that. In fact, in more ways than one.

The first and most glaring way the horribly waged war of aggression in Iraq has damaged us more is in the loss of life. We lost 2,973 persons in the 9/11 attacks. As of May 1, 2007, we've lost 4,017 (Coalition troops + contractors). Over 1,000 more are dead as a result of invading Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11, than the original attacks themselves. Plus, that doesn't begin to cover the number of Iraqis killed which is at least ~63,000 per Iraqbodycount.net. And there's no end in sight to additional carnage courtesy of the ill-advised "surge" and continued sectarian violence.

Second, financially we have been hit harder. A Milliken Institute study came up with about $300 billion in losses (buildings, jobs, investments, etc.) due directly to the 9/11 attacks. The total for the Iraq War spent-to-date is $422 billion according to costofwar.com and probably another $100 billion in the new legislation being sent to Bush today is for Iraq? Half a trillion dollars. And that doesn't cover the potential for $1-2 trillion in future healthcare costs for injured soldiers. Nor does it cover the expansion of our military and other aspects of national security receiving more money now.

Lastly, the US was a nation (even an entire planet) largely united as one after being hit so devastatingly hard. Now, however, the US is a nation largely divided by sharp, partisan rhetoric from both sides of the political spectrum. The US is now arguably a rogue nation intent on using wars of aggression to enact foreign policy for national "security". The US has become that which it despised. Killing in the name of ideology.


Arrogance is not a valued trait. Neither is ignorance nor obstinance in the face of failure (or facts).


It's time to heal.


It's time to change course.

[Balbus]

1. No doubt about it.

[elehhhhna]

2. k&r

[NightWatcher]

3. here's an idea: He's responsible for both of them

[Vexatious Ape]

4. That's right.

The religious conservative Osama gave Bush a gift on 911. And religious conservative Bush payed him back in March of 03 by going into Iraq.

[Breeze54]

5. Your title makes no sense to me.

Iraq and 9-11 are NOT related.

[Roland99]

6. That's the point.

or part of it anyway.

[Breeze54]

8. Oh...ok...lol

:blush:

I'm a little distracted with the C-Span IW Funding speeches.

I meant to say I was going to come back and re-read your OP and think about it more.

Sorry! (I'm laughing at myself. ;))

[Roland99]

9. No worries!

And doesn't it feel weird, like a special treat, to see Pelosi and Reid live on TV in the middle of the day?!


It's sad that we see it as a treat instead of par for the course.

[FiveGoodMen]

7. That's putting it ever so mildly!

[Roland99]

10. And I can't tell you how glad I am that the "liberal" media makes these points all the time.

:sarcasm:

[Gregorian]

11. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

There isn't much else to say. I could lament what financial and international political surplus we had. But that is history.

We start with today. We ask ourselves what it is that we want. But that would be logical.


Assuming 9/11 really was a terrorist attack and not an administrative "job", it was a message. And we totally ignored it. That message was "screw you". And we never even asked why. Well now we know why. And we aren't even acknowledging it.

Energy independence, and smaller world population are the two big solutions to this situation. But even if we can't manage those, we can still live by the age old principal.

[Roland99]

12. Exactly. Who asks the question, "Why did bin Laden start targeting the U.S.?"

Certainly not the "liberal" media.

[Gregorian]

13. No. But I saw a documentary on LinkTV that did.

There was Bin Laden explaining that he had seen a US missile blow up a tower in his town. And the idea hit him right then.

But I didn't need to post this. You knew. It's the Joe Sixpack who needs real journalists on the average tv channel.

[Roland99]

15. Communist trash!

:P



:)

[Gregorian]

17. Well, that's it! Back to watching Green Acres, I guess.

And here I thought I was just a normal guy. It ends up I'm now an environmentalist AND a commie.

:)

[Roland99]

18. Amazing what we learn about ourselves up here, eh?

:D :D

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. K&R!

[Roland99]

16. Well, looks like we'll be seeing more of "staying the course"

even though Bush "was never about staying the course".

[MLFerrell]

19. "The US is now arguably a rogue nation intent on using wars of aggression..."

Arguably?