It has been nearly three years since Bush launched his disastrous war on Iraq. What do we have to show for it? Over 2,300 dead U.S. servicemen, close to 17,000 wounded, somewhere between 40,000 to 100,000 dead Iraqis and a country utterly devastated. By all accounts, life is worse now for the average Iraqi than when Sadaam Hussein was in charge. They don’t have electricity, water, jobs, schools or health care and they live in constant fear of violent death, kidnapping or torture.

Sadaam may be imprisoned, but Osama bin Laden, the man supposedly behind 9-11 is still unaccounted for. By nearly all measures, the United States is less secure to international terrorism than it was 4 years ago because of the increased animosity of the world to our policies. We now have more enemies. We have wreaked havoc on the nation and people of Iraq. Many of our brave soldiers try to do the right thing and help the Iraqi people, but it may be all for naught because we failed to address the true difficulties brought on by our war or to plan for its aftermath. There were Weapons of Mass Destruction, just ask Rumsfeld, he saw them in the 1980’s when Sadaam was our ally, but we failed to find them this time. There was also a colossal Intelligence Failure, but it went all the way to the top. Iraq is closer now than ever to the brink of civil war and we are faced with an intransigent neighbor in Iran.

As American taxpayers we are paying for this war and are largely responsible for it along with our cowardly politicians who supported Bush’s authorization of force instead of doing their job and declaring an official war as required by the Constitution. This war will easily cost the U.S. Treasury in excess of $200 billion with no end in sight. There has been over $9,000,000,000 in unaccounted for reconstruction money that has been basically stolen by contractors. That is over $30 a piece for every man, woman and child residing in the United States. It is money that sure could have gone a long way toward improving our health care, education or environment and it could have strengthened all of the levees in Louisiana and California. Let’s not forget about all that cheap oil we were supposed to be getting from Iraq. Production is down and our gasoline prices are nearly twice as high than when Bush took office. This was a great legacy from our Oilman President to all his cronies in Big Oil. These corporations last year declared the highest profits in the history of the world.

This war may have been popular among most Americans when we were seen as winning, but now most Americans believe that we should pull-out of Iraq. It was a war based on lies and misinformation, but to say that today’s consequences could not be foreseen is a lie itself. There were millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of people world-wide who advised us not to enter into this debacle. Does anyone remember why we switched from French Fries to Freedom Fries? It was because the French tried to warn us not to go to war. Even President George H.W. Bush,  predicted the consequences back in 1991 when he decided not to overthrow Saddam at that time after the First Gulf War.

People can say that I am un-American and don’t support the troops, but that is untrue. I once was a soldier myself and I believe that the best way to support our troops is to bring them home. Some of the latest polls show that nearly 75% of our troops feel the same way. People can say that I don’t support the President, and that is true. It is the right and duty of every American to question our leaders. If they are right we should support them, but if they are wrong, we should change them. Every Soldier, Sailor and Marine and Teacher takes an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I believe that George W. Bush is a Warmonger because he and his ilk sold this war to the American people. According to the Bible, that is one of the worst things one can be. He actively encouraged this war and derisively tempted our Enemies to “Bring it On!” from the deck of the U.S.S. Lincoln when he declared “Mission Accomplished”. Well, they have and we will be paying for our folly for the rest of our lives and probably for the lives of our children.