More In Harms Way Is Not OK

21,500 more troops to escalate a war that never should have started?

It is 2007, and what was clear to too few of us four years ago is now abundantly clear to most people: U.S. president George W. Bush lied to the American people--and to the world--to win support to go to war, to serve a hidden agenda that must have served some private interest because it most certainly had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction or any terrorist threat or retaliation for any terrorist act.

Some of us have known this for years, but not enough people wanted to listen, not enough were willing to question authority or challenge the propaganda that masqueraded as news. Today, these facts are no longer in dispute, except by those who refuse to accept the overwhelming mounds of evidence that consistently point to the conclusion that we were fed ... lies.

That the Bush administration lied to us should not be the least bit surprising. A cornerstone of Bush's legacy is that he was declared the winner twice in elections that were both conspicuously marred by allegations of fraud and disenfranchisement. Quite an "achievement," but hardly the foundation for an honest relationship with the American people.

The Bush Administration wanted to invade Iraq, for reasons that we could debate. Whatever the real reasons were, the people of the United States and the world were lied to by the president of the United States, and as a result of those lies, many people were trained and given orders to kill, and many were killed.

More than 3,000 U.S. soldiers reportedly have been killed so far; Bush's lies are responsible for their deaths. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people have been killed, and Bush and his cronies Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice et al. are responsible for those deaths as well.

I hear people all the time saying that our military forces are fighting for our freedom. It sounds nice, but nothing could be further from the truth. There simply is no basis in reality for making such a statement.

Many allied troops have been killed, 32 journalists have been killed to date, reportedly 147 people working for corporations with lucrative government contracts have been killed (seems incredibly low) while the CEOs and other top executives of these politically connected corporations, and the cheering Wall Street investors beside them, count the blood money and smile.

Perhaps 7 to 10 times as many victims in at least some of these categories have been maimed physically, including more than 22,000 U.S. soldiers, and many have been destroyed emotionally, and those are probably the most undercounted and undocumented. Information about this war has been tightly controlled and therefore the media often have no choice but to report statistics without the benefit of being able to verify them. In fact it is much easier to get accurate body counts, as well as more graphic photos of the ravages of war, from other wars where the U.S. is not involved.

As journalist and politician Henry Du Pré Labouchère (1831-1912) is believed to have said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics." The quote was originally attributed to Benjamin Disraeli. In any event, from Bush, we get the triple whammy. Lies, damn lies, AND statistics.

No part of our planet has been left untouched by the carnage, nor by the economic, environmental and/or psychic effects of this unjust war.

If death was a fit sentence for Saddam Hussein for killing a few hundred people, what sentence would Bush deserve ... for all the hundreds of thousands of lives he took and the millions of lives that he ruined, and for all the pain, suffering, and destruction that he caused and continues to cause for motives that still remain undisclosed?

My view is that I would like to see Bush and Cheney removed from office and perhaps be sent to Guantanamo Bay to live out the rest of their miserable lives. Their crimes are horrific, but I do not support the death penalty.

How high do the tallies need to climb before the number and intensity of those who cry out in opposition to this madness rises to a critical mass? It's too late to be timely, but better sooner than later, and better later than never.

21,500 more troops to escalate a war that never should have started? (Check out related links at left)

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