Before the war, life under sanctions was difficult, …[Sister Diana] said, but there was little violence and she and others were free to pursue their education and worship openly. Now, violence is rampant and random, medicine and medical care are in short supply, electricity is limited to several hours each day, travel is difficult and students only attend school sporadically.
“People thought (the war) would change Iraq, but it didn’t turn out the way they thought,” she said. “We thought it would be different. They promised us there would be freedom.”
Instead, Sister Diana said, “the future of our children is in danger. It’s kind of a tragedy when kids grow up seeing car bombs and bodies in the street. This is not normal. It’s like a fiction movie.”
Of course it is fellow Muslims (religion of peace) that are doing all the killing and bombing.
Colin Powell said it best: “You break it, you own it.” We own it and it ain’t good. Let this be a lesson to whatever President decides to embark on another adventure on very poor intelligence. We end up with 4,000 dead heroes, a $530 billion (so far) price tag and a deficit our kids will be paying when they are grandparents. Sad, and ever so avoidable.
I would not begin to discount this poor woman’s suffering, or the suffering of the people in Iraq; however the article states that she has not been in the country for at least a year and a half. Conditions may have changed with respect to many of the issues she raises.
The article further takes on a politcal motivation with the question of whether Iraq can stand another four years of war – conveniently the term of the next US president.
I’ll continue to pray for all involved in Iraq; all the while continuing to read news reports in light of the obvious agenda (pro or con) many seek to advance.
Jim, you nailed it! The intelligence was very poor, and it has been amply demonstrated that the neocons came into office rattling sabers against Iraq, so they twisted and distorted what intelligence we had. The suffering of the people of Iraq goes on and on; and the US dollar continues to sink because Bush/Cheney & Co have driven us into trillions of dollars in debt. It ain’t good, and it certainly was avoidable.
Good grief, Vern! Conditions haven’t changed, there is still random violence, electrical service and water supplies (outside the Green Zone) in Baghdad is iffy and sproradic. The only neighborhoods that have calmed down a bit are those in which ‘ethnic cleansing’ was accomplished…
And over 2 million people (many of them the most educated) have fled the country for their own safety.
Iraq and the entire region is a dangerous MESS thanks to the neocons, Cheney & GW Bush. Some legacy to leave our grandkids!
Little Cabbage,
I am sure glad to know that Iraq was not a dangerous mess before March 2003. Thanks for clearing that up!
Little Cabbage, when were you there last? Also, please define neocon for all of us. That word is frequently thrown out perjoratively by those on the left, but they never can seem to tell us what it means.
[blockquote]there is still random violence[/blockquote]
Actually, much of the violence is fairly orchestrated. It’s Iraq, not Detroit or DC. And the current violence was always there simmering, but suppressed by Hussein & Co.’s murderous, genocidal regime.
I’m not saying it was a good idea to go in and do what we did, but leaving Saddam in power wasn’t a good plan either. There were no really satisfactory solutions to the problem by the time GWB took office.
And let’s not forget that the Democrats in Congress sent a very pointed letter to President Clinton urging him to take military action against Iraq that would remove SH from power.
Bush merely acted on what Congress already wanted done. It may be unfortunate that the intel was faulty, but also let’s remember that Senator Mrs. Clinton stated that she checked out the intel on her own, absent of all political bias, and found that it warranted the action Pres. Bush was proposing. I assume others in Congress did the same before voting ‘aye’.
JE
However, there is good news:
[blockquote](UPI) – Wednesday, June 11, 2008
U.S. officials say a sharp drop-off in al-Qaeda recruits coming to Iraq to become suicide bombers indicates the group is losing its appeal to young Muslims.
The Washington Times says senior Bush administration and U.S. intelligence officials claim the falling number of would-be suicide bombers entering the country is a result of al-Qaeda’s tactics of mass killings being rejected by the Arab world and because of battlefield defeats in Baghdad and Anbar province.
There has been a sharp decline in the amount of suicide bombers coming into Iraq, the Times quoted an unnamed senior intelligence official as saying. It’s harder for suicide bombers to get into the country. The Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a shadow of what it once was.
Sunni Arabs in Iraq began rejecting al-Qaeda last year and have continued their about-face, now aiding U.S. troops in battles against them, military officials told the newspaper. They said suicide attacks, which averaged 50 per month last year, have been reduced to 20 per month now.
The Pentagon says the number of all attacks in Iraq dropped from 1,500 per week in February 2007 to 450 per week this February.
[/blockquote]
OK, let’s make a list of the world tyrants the USA should invade and topple from power: I suppose Sudan heads the list? Or East Timor? Or North Korea? Or Russia? Or Egypt? Or IRAN???
Of the list only Iran qualifies, because it has OIL and the neocon philosophy has been to ‘install’ Western-style democracy (big words for ‘install a puppet beholden to the US corporate interests, a la the late Shah) and let US corporations take over the oil industry of the country.
The entire put-up war was for OIL and the profit of enormous outfits such as Halliburton….and now the American people are finally waking up to it, and the GOP/Neocon/Cheney/Wolfowitz/Rumsfeld/GWB bunch are TOAST. Unfortunately, under their watch, so is our economy and foreign policy! Thanks, GOP! Thanks, Cheney! Enjoy your retirments while my grandkids are paying off the debt you have run up in this grubby invasion….whatever happened to the GOP ideal of balanced budgets?
LC, you must not have read a single post from anyone else. Again, what is a neocon, and please explain about Haliburton. Are you aware they are the only ones that do what they do, and that Clinton also gave them no-bid contracts in Bosnia? Also, at one point (maybe even now) their profits were actually down during this conflict. You seem to be parrotting a bunch of Democraticunderground talking points, but I really don’t think you can back any of it up. Really, just read some of what LibraryJim has pointed out. And BTW, if it’s just about oil, please explain how this war has benefited our oil situation since 2003. I’m sure we’re all eager to hear your explanations.
Alli B, Oh, YAWN. If you aren’t aware of the necons who underwrote (intellectually and fiscally) the election of Dick Cheney and GW Bush, who am I to educate you? And who says I’m a ‘Democrat’?
You’re right on one major point: our invasion of Iraq has NOT helped the oil situation at ALL. Cheney & Co. hoped it would, that they would be able to install a puppet ‘leader’ similar to the Shah of Iran who would basically allow US airbases (some of the largest in the world are now being built in Iran, ask any GI or Marine who has seen them or read the newspaper)
Maybe you don’t recall (but most Americans do, very clearly) our Prez and his minions solemnly telling us how the Iraq War will be ‘paid for by the oil revenues from Iraq’. Those of us with an inkling of knowledge of warfare, occupations, and the Middle East, knew it wouldn’t work, and we were correct.
The oil problem remains because the dollar has plunged in value (dropping nearly 40% in 89 years), the endemic corruption in Iraq has drained something like 15 BILLION from US taxpayers and the Iraq War goes on and on and on, and demand is way up because of India and China, …with only lower-economic class American kids and the Iraqis who couldn’t pay to get out suffering the consequences. It’s sicksicksick, and whomever we elect next has a mess on his hands.
Okay, LC, it’s clear you’re unable to define the word you throw at people.
[blockquote]with only lower-economic class American kids and the Iraqis who couldn’t pay to get out suffering the consequences. [/blockquote]
I hope you’re not implying that only lower-economic class American kids are the ones overseas fighting.
[i] #13 and #14: please eliminate any sarcasm. [/i]
-Elf Lady
Our volunteer military (at least the non-comms) are very heavily drawn from the lower-economic class of the US. It’s largely those who hope to use the military benefits to go to college, or see the military as a step up (and it often is) to a decent, regular paycheck and possible career. This has been amply demonstrated in study after study. It has become worse in the past few years as our recruiting standards have been dropped so that the services can meet recruiting goals. (one no longer needs a high school diploma or GED, some criminal background is ok, etc.)
I honor the military and those who choose it as a career. And the fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghahnistan are very largely from families who are economically lower middle-class or in poverty. This has been true for many years.