1827 DAYS AND NO END IN SIGHT

On November 1st, 2006 I made a posting in which I tried to discuss the ONLY numbers that really mattered and they were not the election numbers. I wrote about the fact that as of that date, 2817 United States military personnel had perished during the invasion and occupation of Iraq and that 21,419 individuals had been reported as wounded. I made another posting on November 13th, 2006 (only 12 days later) after the mid-term election results were in and the Democratic Party gained control of both the House and the Senate. This vote was supposed to be a signal to the Democrats and indeed the current Administration that "we the people" wanted a distinct change in our policy in Iraq and Afghanistan and our so-called "war on terror". In those 12 days, an additional 31 US military personnel were no longer among the living and an additional 153 soldiers had been wounded. The Democrats showed their lack of ability or lack of resolve to affect any change and the Republicans have, for the most part, remained in lock step with our failed policy.

I realize that for the most part my posting and calls for an end to the insane direction our Government has been following for the past six and a half years goes unnoticed. But that doesn't diminish the need to write them and continue to write in favor or "we the people" and for the safety and security of all our troops.

It is now March 20th, 2008 and Americans now enter the beginning of the SIXTH YEAR of putting our troops in harms way in Iraq and we are well into our SEVENTH year in Afghanistan.

During the days and weeks and months since my November 2006 posting we have now reached 1827 days of occupation in Iraq (more in Afghanistan). The DEATH TOLL for American military personnel is now reported to have reached 3,992 in Iraq and an additional 483 deaths (of a reported coalition total of 772) in Afghanistan. The military has reported "at least" 29,395 of our troops have been wounded in Iraq and an additional 1,894 wounded in Afghanistan.

This means that EVERY DAY (on average) almost 2.5 humans in the Unites States military have been killed "in the line of duty" and EVERY DAY another 17 of your troops are reported "wounded".

THINK ABOUT THIS!!

As horrendous as the above numbers they do not include the casualties of any other nations involved, any dead or wounded among the tens of thousands of private contractors, and certainly doesn't count the almost countless number of civilians (in Iraq and Afghanistan) who have been killed or wounded, which has been estimated to be anywhere between 100,000 and 600,000!

As our President and others in the administration and proponents of this foreign policy continue to try to convince "we the people" of the righteousness of our actions and "spin" success stories and the need to "win" (without fully explaining just what THAT means), THEY and WE seem incapable of actually "winning" in a decisive manner.

Our brave troops have served with honor and would continue to do so for an additional 5, 10, 20 or more years if they are ordered to do so. You hear some tell us that if we were to withdraw it would not honor those that have fallen in battle. I submit that it is the primary duty of our Government to protect and honor those in uniform by REMOVING THEM FROM HARM'S WAY! We continue to have a policy that has shown that simply a military victory (over whom?) is not only not attainable but would not, by itself, constitute "winning". The Iraqi Government, now in place for at least 3 years, continues to flounder, argue and fail to reconcile with its own factions and despite a few agreements has only met a fraction of the so-called "benchmarks" that we expected them to meet over a year ago. Is the current administration "protecting" our troops or US citizens by allowing the Iraqi government to drag its collective feet while our men and women are fighting and dying FOR THEM? I think not. How long should WE die for THEM?

How long? How many? How much? 12 BILLION DOLLARS PER MONTH! The cost of these wars will reach ONE TRILLION DOLLARS very shortly and will surely exceed that number in the coming years.

The "progress" and "success" we keep hearing about doesn't seem to be as evident on the ground in Iraq. We "bought" the Sunni militias by paying them a monthly stipend NOT to shoot at us. Reports that the cash payments may be drying up will lead to what? Most Iraqi citizens are extremely lucky if they get more than six to eight hours of electricity each day (which is worse than they had it before we invaded). Is that progress? The water supply in most of the country is either limited or tainted. Is that progress? The latest figures indicate that Iraqi oil production in basically at the same output levels it was prior to our invasion. WE were told by the current administration that Iraq would easily be able to pay their own reconstruction costs through oil revenues. Recent reports indicate that because of much higher prices for oil (not because of increased production) Iraq will see revenues of between 80 and 100 BILLION DOLLARS in 2007 and 2008. Yet, most of the funding for whatever reconstruction that is taking place in Iraq still comes from US taxpayer dollars! WHY?? A majority of the teachers, doctors and other professionals have fled the country. There are an estimated 4 MILLION Iraqi citizens that are displaced from their homes, villages, or cities. How can this be viewed as progress?? Unemployment in most areas of Iraq is at least 50%, the majority of schools opened during the past few years in Afghanistan have since been closed or deemed too dangerous to attend. Is this progress? In the beginning of 2001, the Taliban (as oppressive as they were) had virtually stopped growing of the crop used to produce the deadly opium (and heroin) that has been a scourge on the earth and brought death and ruin to so many Americans and people around the world. Since the invasion and occupation by the Untied States and NATO, each of the past FOUR years have shown RECORD CROPS! How can this possibly be viewed as progress when this instrument of death has been ALLOWED to gain ground as Afghanistan produces about 93% of the world's supply??? That is unforgivable!!

So, as you watch and listen to all the candidates go around the country "talking" about what they would or wouldn't do in Iraq or Afghanistan or about "winning" (again without any definition of what that means), keep in the minds that REAL PEOPLE are dying EVERY DAY while they serve and follow their orders and WAIT for their Government to get them out of harm's way. Our troops should not be simply placed on some list of statistics along with budget numbers, stock quotes, unemployment figures, etc. They DESERVE much more that that.

Enough is enough! "We the people" along with the families and friends of out troops need to DEMAND that our "leaders" get this mess over NOW! We either have to literally kill every person that wishes harm and death to America (are we truly prepared to go to that extreme?) or we must bring this debacle to an end. If we withdrew in 1 year or 2 years or 5 years or longer the "risk" that there would be sectarian violence in Iraq (and Afghanistan) will still remain. We are simply prolonging that inevitable condition and losing Americans every day.

Another key thing for "we the people" to consider is the fact that even if every person (citizen or not) currently in Iraq or Afghanistan were to magically come forward and turn in all their weapons and stop the killing, would that end the so-called "war on terror"? No, it would not! Would America and it's citizens ultimately be safer from the "terrorist threat" if Iraq and Afghanistan were to suddenly become peaceful nations? No, it would not! We cannot continue to buy into the falsehood that Iraq is the heart of terrorism. It is not and never has been! Terrorism is an idea that resides in the hearts of desperate extremists throughout the world. There is no specific country to put down. The ideas and beliefs of the radicals will continue far beyond any military engagement in any particular country. Don't we get that yet?

I strongly suggest that you all do some soul searching and objective research into the REAL reasons and motives that our troops are dying for and then demand that our nation's leaders tell us the truth and stop this madness. Our troops and US citizens deserve nothing less than that.

It truly is TIME TO THINK AGAIN

For a review of casualty figures and a place to put faces to the numbers of dead Americans I would direct you to the following web sites (there are several others as well); http://icasualties.org/oif/ or http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/index.html