A sad anniversary

March 19 will be the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq. Funny, when this whole thing started I don't recall any predictions of our winding up in such a quagmire 5 years later. All I remember hearing was patriotic rhetoric and government propaganda which threatened all of us with the terrorist boogeyman if we didn't send our loved ones off to fight and die for the glory of Halliburton and Blackwater.

My, it feels good to sharpen my claws after a few days off...

Now here we are, almost 5 years into Bush's pet war, and what have we got to show for it? Let's make a list:
1) We're not any safer. If anything, our world is a much more dangerous place than it was before the Iraq war, because we've made so many enemies across the globe. There are very few nations who would come to our aid right now if we had a serious problem. Some nations would even snicker and say "serves them right", and we'd deserve that.
2) We're poorer as a nation because we surrendered the civil rights that our forefathers fought and died to give us, simply because the government waved the terrorist boogeyman in our faces until we were too scared and confused to oppose the Patriot Act, and then we woke up the next day to warrantless wiretaps, detention without due process and severely curtailed freedom of speech. Oh yeah, we're a lot poorer today.
3) As of 3/4/08 there have been 29,320 US soldiers wounded and 3974 killed in the Iraq war (data from http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/), so we're poorer as a nation for the suffering and death this imperialistic war has brought to our soldiers.
4) We're so divided as a nation, and the war in Iraq is one of the big reasons behind this division. It's going to take a lot of work and commitment for us to come together as one nation or one people again.
5) Oil companies are making record profits while ordinary citizens are having trouble filling their gas tanks. Rumor has it that gas may hit $4.00/gallon by summer, and that's going to put increased strain on families that are barely getting by now as it is. Everything else will become more expensive too, because it takes fuel to transport products to our neighborhood stores.
6) We're poorer as a nation because we've surrendered our principles in our quest for a feeling of safety that, in all reality, we'll never have again. (More on that later.) We've become a nation that uses torture instead of opposing it, and this has cost us much respect, from both the international community and ourselves.

I think we all need to realize that our golden age of security ended on 9/11/2001. We're never again going to be free from the threat of terrorism, so we might as well just suck it up and get on with our lives. Learn to deal with the uncertainty of the future and enjoy the present. Tune out the fearmongering government propaganda. Listen to that small voice inside you and ask it, "What can I do to make this world a better place?" I seriously doubt that voice is going to tell you to stock up on antibiotics and bottled water in case of another terrorist attack. Instead, that voice may tell you to reach out to a neighbor, to work for a worthy cause, to participate in a rally or protest, to make your voice heard somehow above the din of war-drums, to speak out and demand change, and to work to create change.

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." - Alexander Hamilton

Peace,
AuntieM