the eighth anniversary of the war on iraq

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The Eighth Anniversary of the Iraq War
by David Krieger

On this eighth anniversary of the Iraq War, I feel a deep sense of sadness mixed with anger, along with regret for what might have been. We’ve had eight years of futile war in Iraq and nearly ten years of the same in Afghanistan. The stickers have worn, but the presence of US troops in Iraq continues.

Following September 11, 2001, the world stood with the US. We had a choice then: to respond legally, morally and with wisdom; or, like a helpless giant, to flail out with our vast arsenal of weapons. To our shame, our leaders, then and now, have taken the latter course.
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The result of our Global War on Terror is that we have spent more than $780 billion on the Iraq War and more than $387 billion on the Afghanistan War, a total of over $1.167 trillion. These wars have cost California $147 billion, and have cost our 23rd Congressional District $2.6 billion. These numbers grow by the day. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, has predicted that the total cost of the war in Iraq to the Federal government and to society will conservatively exceed $3 trillion.


Of course, the money wasted is only a part of the outrage that has weakened our country. More importantly, some 4,500 American soldiers have died in Iraq. Of these, 4,300 Americans died since George Bush dressed up in his flight suit and gave his victory speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln. But the death toll of Americans is dwarfed by that of Iraqis. By some estimates, more than a million and a half Iraqis have died in the Iraq War. Four million have been displaced from their homes. In
Afghanistan, 1,498 American soldiers have died and 2,361 total coalition forces have died. In 2010 alone, 2,777 civilians died in Afghanistan. Of these, 1,175 were children and 555 were women.

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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/19-3

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