Five Years Later

So today marks the fifth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq. Five years after we invaded -- for no apparent reason -- a sovereign nation that posed no threat to us whatsoever, we still find ourselves mired in the midst of a civil war of our own making. Five years later, and Iraq is no closer to any sort of political solution than it was the day we took down Saddam Hussein, the day our incompetent president declared "mission accomplished."

During those five years, nearly 4,000 American men and women have lost their lives in this futile, unnecessary war. Almost 300,000 of our citizens have applied for medical benefits as a result of injuries, both physical and mental, incurred during this war and occupation. As many as a million Iraqi citizens have lost their lives, and many millions more have become refugees as a result of our actions. Far from making the world "safe from terrorism" (in the words of George W. Bush), our occupation instead functions as a prime recruitment tool for those who would most like to do us harm.

As staggering as have been the human costs of this monumental foreign policy blunder, the economic costs to our nation are just as harmful. Because of this war, we have squandered the future of our children and grandchildren. Indeed, the national debt rung up -- by a self-described "conservative" administration -- is larger that the accumulated debt of all previous administrations combined. Seven years ago our nation's government operated with a surplus and boasted of a booming economy that was the envy of the world. Today, be are mired in a severe recession that threatens to become a full-blown depression, while our overwhelming and untenable national debt leaves us with few options.

So this is the legacy of George W. Bush and his war: we are now a broken country. Our military is broken, our economy is broken, the dollar is in the dumpster, and the Middle East is in shambles. And yet he and his minions have the audacity to declare this disaster, even today, was the right thing to do. That his policies have somehow made us safer, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. That the costs, both human and monetary, are worth the price. On this fifth anniversary of the worst foreign policy disaster in our nation's history, in the end I can only offer this: shame on you, George Bush. Shame on those who would continue to enable you. And shame on us for allowing you to do this to our nation.