A Terrible, Terrible Mistake

The Iraq War has been a terrible, terrible mistake.  We had a choice.  We did not have to invade Iraq.  Iraq was never a threat to the US.  And now we see the video of Dick Cheney in 1994 telling us why he and others decided not to pursue Saddam Hussein then, telling us it would have been a “quagmire”.  Everything Mr. Cheney said about Iraq in 1994 was proven to be true about the current Iraq War by the end of 2003.  So why are we still there now in 2007?
At a minimum 75,000 people have died in this war, including as of today 3735 US soldiers.  At least another 27,000 US soldiers have been wounded. These numbers are enormous, over-whelming.  I am personally horrified that my country has been responsible for all this death and destruction.

Sending our sons and daughters into a war we cannot win, that our leadership knew in 1994 we could not win, is not what I call supporting the troops.  It’s time we start to really support our people in uniform by bringing them home, redeploying them out of Iraq and returning what’s left of that country to the people who live there.

Of course, we cannot just walk away but every day our troops remain in Iraq makes the situation worse, not better.  What needs to be done is to start the processes of national reconciliation and UN and regional engagement so that, as the US withdraws, real peace-making and peace-keeping forces can begin their operations.  As long as US forces remain in Iraq, neither national reconciliation or UN engagement can begin and meanwhile, the local combatants and Al-Queda get stronger.

The financial impact of this war has been devastating.  Just looking at our 2nd District alone, taxpayers here have paid $463 million for the Iraq war.  That’s 463 MILLION dollars of your money and mine.  Do you realize what we could have done with that money in terms of health care, Head Start programs, school teachers, scholarships, affordable housing, roads, and police officers?
Despite all this money and all these lives, we remain stuck in a religious civil war that we cannot win, that we cannot even effectively referee.

And perhaps the worst part of this is that Americans are even less safe today than we were on September 11, 2001.  The Iraq War has been a valuable recruiting tool for Al-Queda and other criminal groups that target Americans, making the War on Terror a cruel joke.  Today these groups have more members, more money, and better organization than they did six years ago.  And every day our troops remain in Iraq, we are at greater risk because these criminal groups grow stronger.

This isn’t a Republican or a Democratic issue – it’s an American issue.  It’s an issue that should be on the agenda of every presidential and Congressional candidate.

How many more lives?  How much more money?  Before we realize that the only way out of this horrible mistake is to get our troops out as quickly as alternatives can be put in place.  We must start by setting a timetable for withdrawal, so that others can step up and the Iraqis know we are leaving and know when they will have to take full responsibility for their country.

If you would like to help do something to end this war, please contact me at the email below or look at www.patriotsforpeace.org.