Monday, March 19, 2007

3,218

So. Here we are again at another anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

The title of the post refers to the number of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq since March 19th, 2003

3,079 of those deaths have occured since George Bush stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier (in front of a "mission accomplished" banner) and declared major combat operations in Iraq were over. Somebody, apparently, forgot to tell the other side this.

Add to that the over 24,000 (official) wounded, many of whom are now maimed, crippled, or otherwise scarred for life. This is to say nothing of the thousands more who are now suffering from deep psychological scars that are visible to no other person. It will probably never be possible to count all of them.

Add to that the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have died, both during the war and during the occupation. Most of whom were killed for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And let's not forget to mention the cost of the war financially. Just check the counter to the right for the current total.

I know that I tend to repeat myself in these anniversary posts, but DAMMIT! IT NEEDS TO BE REPEATED! OFTEN! AND LOUDLY!

Someone HAS to stop this insanity. The American people HAVE to start standing up and SHOUTING! I do every day, but I'm pissing into the wind, apparently, because NO ONE IS LISTENING!

The reason no one listens to me, I think, is that no one WANTS to listen to me, or to anyone else who says things like this. Because to acknowledge that the things I say here are right simply reminds people that THEY DID NOTHING TO STOP IT!

So people simply nod uncomfortably and tune me out when I say these things. Because it makes them realize how wrong this whole venture has been from the get go. And if there is ONE THING that we as Americans--no, as a human beings--refuse to acknowledge, it's the possibility that we MIGHT have made a mistake.

The last time we made a mistake of this magnitude, it took nearly 20 years to admit it. And in the meantime, this mistake cost the lives of nearly 60,000 American soldiers and MILLIONS of Vietnamese, both military and civilian, on both sides.

We as a race seem to have a inherent inability to learn from our mistakes. It may very well be the thing that ultimately destroys us. And sooner than we think.

Until then, I'll keep hoping it doesn't happen. I'm probably fooling myself.

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