OUR SOLDIERS SHOULD NOT DIE IN VAIN AND WITHOUT A HIGHER CAUSE

There is no doubt that today as we said yesterday we the United States of America have no business being in Iraq. With Colin Powell leaving and Condi Rice and Rumsfeld in the cockpit the policies governing Iraq will turn worse.

The reasoning is simple. The serious matters concerning what is happening in the hot spot countries of Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq to mention a few have little to do with diplomacy and more with the astuteness that comes with military expertise such as only a general in the field gathers for a long period of time. Colin Powell did his best to educate the White House and George W. Bush but the time has come to leave Ali Baba alone - Condi and Rumsfeld can do his bidding.

Bush broke the pottery rule. Now that he has broken the pot- he has to deal with it. Unfortunately Bush sheds the blood of others and thinks he has been led into this war on Iraq by some divine intervention.

In Afghanistan the local war lords are taking control and much of what the United States promised - good housing, roads, health, clean water, electricity is moving at a snail's pace. This is not to say that women with difficulty can now attend schools and have more freedom then under the ruthless Taliban. Those many today enjoy some concessions.

Much of the good that could have happened in Afghanistan cannot happen because the money and expertise has been diverted to Iraq. Lucky for us Germany, France, Japan, and a few other countries have come to the aid of Afghanistan.

The warlords in Afghanistan have grown large tracts of poppy fields and are making millions of dollars selling heroin. This fact is known to some but most in the United States do not. The countryside for all practical purposes in control by the war lords. Our U.S. soldiers have laid their lives and we have made headway in Falluja. This door to door fighting is not easy. Much as it was not easy with the tunnels in Vietnam. We deactivated our Armies much before the invasion of Iraq and with limited forces have burdened our women and men. The casualties are many and the faces stricken with the horrors of war we see in the media and elsewhere dampen our eyes.

It hurts especially when you know some one and pray daily that he or she may not come in harms way. Then as the days go by you hear it and you hear it again and again - it bothers me that so many have to die in vain - that is why I am writing about it.

Many who have laid their lives and who are fighting would not have gone to war if they fully understood the circumstances. There are few that think they are shedding their blood for a right cause but that is far from the reality of the facts and truth.

Not a single Congressperson has sent his daughter or son to Iraq. Why is this? I do not know anyone from the Bush's family that has gone to fight in Iraq - why is this? Why is it that the majority of the women and men dying come from poor families? We did not learn much from the previous wars - stupid leaders make a decision and others in authority instead of speaking up - go with the flow. This is plain wrong.

We now learn and we knew it before but not the details that we could have taken out Osama bin Laden a long time ago. In one instance he was surrounded by some princes from Yemen - the intelligence community was told to hold back on the attack. When we cornered Osama in the mountains of Bora Bora - we gave the task to the warlords of Afghanistan - who took money and let go the son of a gun.

In the days to come we will hear many horror facts linked to Afghanistan and Iraq and what we hear and read will be very sad. The facts will not be able to bring back the dead and the men and women from our armed forces who should be alive. The least the Bush Administration with Condi all posed to be the Secretary of State and Rumsfeld posed to repeat his one liners and pompous talk - is help the families of our service men and women. This is not happening. Those who are serving have had their active duty prolonged. Others who served have been told to serve another term and some have served 3 and 4 terms. Something is wrong and some one should state the obvious.

It is sad to see so many young men and women with only Basic Training and little combat experience die and taken pot shots at. Bush knows about this and says that divine inspiration led him to Iraq that is Babylon. The Father of Nations Abraham hailed from Iraq. Iraq is the center of human civilization. Any one reading the bible or plain world history knows that.

War is not something any genuine Christian embraces. Dropping 500 and 5000 lb. bombs is not something any decent person will endorse - thousands of civilians die and any death that is unlawful cries to heaven for justice. I know some people who have blood on their hands and you all know who they are.

AntiWar.com: Casualties in Iraq


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