Over $1 trillion of borrowed money was spent, Over 4,000 lives were sacrificed, Over 30,000 were wounded. No WMDs were found, No democratic form of gov't exists in Iraq, Iraq still does not have a functioning gov't,
Saddam Hussein is gone, We built our largest embassy.
But that's only in your terms and is taking a pretty favourable view of the outcome.
Why ffs do americans think only american lives count? The Iraq body count is now around 100,000 civilian deaths. You don't mention the wrecked cities, the polluted waters, the unexploded ordnance. You don't mention the total loss of respect that america has suffered world wide from abu graib, from videos on youtube of marines killing civilians, from the top level idiocy and deceit of it all, so that US citizens abroad often pretend to be canadian rather than have taxi drivers and waiters incessantly telling them what jerks they are, so that if there actually was a reason to form invade a foreign country nobody, not even Tonga would join you or support you. You don't mention the cost to servicemen who come home uninjured who will be spending the rest of their lives mentally unhinged.
And actually it was all totally predictable. Look at what Gen Norman Schwarzkopf had to say about invading Iraq a few short years before Bush jr did it.:
And no lives were sacrificed. Our volunteer military is made up of people who knew the risks - the same as mountain climbers or sky-divers or race car drivers - and eagerly enlisted for the opportunity to kill people and blow things up. The military is our warrior class: They were born to do this, they were trained to do this, they need to do this.
Fully 85% of those who've served in Iraq or Afghanistan reenlist at each opportunity. The remaining 15% retired, were invalided out, or married harridans.
If you get a chance, watch the movie "Hurt Locker." Fairly boring, but the screen periodically interjects "330 days remaining," "200 days remaining," "35 days remaining." Then we get to the last five minutes of the movie as the main character gets back home.
Various scenes of him helping with the dishes, mowing the grass, feeding the baby.
Then the last scene: The BDU-dressed main character walks down the ramp of a C-130 carrying his gear as the screen says "365 days remaining."
This was what Schwarzkopf was told to say. He had originally said that he wanted to go after Hussein. He said this publicly, on TV. The next day he retracted that.
Nobody has provided me my talking points. I dream this shit up all by myself.
I remember back when I was so anti-war during the Vietnam era (luckily I was a little to young to die). Then I learned about the millions of Cambodians that paid the price of us giving up too soon. Just one example of the outcome of childish simplistic "can't we all just get along" thinking. I've grown up now and come to realize that America cast her lot back at the time of the Civil War. We will forever line up to die to try and right wrongs in the world wherever they exists. We have been pretty good at it although it is clearly an imperfect game in an imperfect world.
We didn't give up too soon. We concluded a Peace Treaty with the North Vietnamese, complete with handshakes and everything. Henry Kissenger got the Nobel Peace Prize for the effort.
A year after our last combat troops had left South Viet Nam, the Democrats in Congress cut off all military assistance and funding to the country. The North Vietnamese invaded the South again. With no bullets, the South fell.
I'm still conflicted over who was the most perfidious: The North Vietnamese or the Democrats.
Long before the last of our troops left, the Demonrats cut funding to the war and thousands of our soldiers died as a result of being over there without any way to defend themselves.
Demonrats. When will they ever learn?
-- Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. -- Storm Jameson
Fairness my ass. They continue to know what they're doing and they don't care. It's beyond perfidy, it's treasonous. I'd prefer beheadings or drawing and quartering, but what's going to happen to them in November will at least help stop our losses. IF America as we know it survives until then.
-- Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. -- Storm Jameson
The mission WAS accomplished until W allowed his administration to get sucked into nation building (aka Fixing What We Did Not Break In The First Place) by our fine US State Department.
Speaking of keeping score ... I'd say the less than $1T spent on this war is rather minor compared to the multiples of $Trillions President Changeium has had to print to keep up his profligate vote buying.
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