Human Lives Are Worth Much More Than This "War" In Iraq

After not making a post for awhile I was fervently reading through blogs looking for something I could get a handle on. I had posted Robertson's assassination comment but I pulled it because I did not want to join the hype but after the old man attempted to retract his statements I couldn't resist reposting it.

In searching for people who agreed with the man I stumbled upon an article on RedStates.org that belittles the deaths of thousands and claimed the war in Iraq is as important as WWII. As I felt there should not be a claim like that without there being at least one counter claim I decided to start this response.

To Leon H.

I'd like to join you in your opinion that our generation is not the first to deal with difficult moral issues. I would also like to agree that we have a lack of willingness to defend ourselves and our culture from threats. The very fact that we have allowed almost half our country's voters to vote for a man who threatens the well-being of the United States disturbs me. Equally disturbing is your thinking we should "stay the course".

The life of a human being, not just an American human being, is important enough to mention the thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians that have died in Iraq. I do not think we are obligated to abandon historical perspective in a sea of shrieking hysteria. None-the-less I think you must put this war in its proper perspective. While the American soldiers' deaths number over 1800 it is difficult to find the number of civilians in Iraq who have died because of this war. Estimates have been anywhere from 23,000 to over 100,000. No matter where the number lies, at what point must you as a human being feel obligated to at least acknowledge the people who are losing their lives in this senseless war.

In a historical comparison to wars throughout the history of this nation it is true that we have not sustained as many casualties as in wars past. It is equally true that this war is petty in comparison to many wars in our past. The first thing you must consider is the trivial nature of this war. We entered this war for several reasons according to George Bush and those who surround him. Many of these reasons have been lies. I am still waiting for a "smoking gun" or a "mushroom cloud" made by "Suddam's WMD" to "make it to our borders". President Bush capitalized on both fear and the trust of the people. Using this he lied his way into an illegal war that his friends profit from.

To compare this illegal war against a country whose leader had no ability to even strike us to World War II, a war fought against a man killing millions who had already managed to conquer others on his way toward world domination is ridiculous. There are no people lined up in gas stations. There is no shortage of butter. Ford Motors is not turning out military vehicles instead of the latest Escape. The lack of public attention, loss of men and urgency to take out the insurgency should only be further evidence that this is not a war but an occupation.

The people of this country are far from war weary. This country is tired of the occupation that has occurred based off a lie. Some who you have mistaken for weary are as troubled with losing family to this conflict as much as they may be with the conflict itself.

We do not support this President and we would rather he not attempt to take our hand and force us to stay this course. The President needs to be reminded that he is OUR representative and it is he that must be dragged in the direction that we believe in.

You end with a warning against immediate withdrawal. To make it seem like all liberals are requesting immediate withdrawal is just as underhanded Pat Robertson's lie or Bush's call to invade Iraq. Perhaps you need to preach withdrawal instead of staying the course.

We should have never gone in there in the first place. We should have planned it out since we did go in. We do recognize that since Bush did put us in this mess so we have to piece-meal our way out as best as we can. Sadly we can't withdraw immediately. But we still need to make a plan to get our troops out of this mistake as soon as possible.

Amendment: August 25, 2005, 4:05PM
And all this at a real expense in treasure and blood. As of Aug. 24 at 10 a.m. EDT, 1,867 American military personnel have died in Iraq. Another 14,120 have been wounded -- 6,770 gravely enough to require removal from the field . The war's price tag, by reasonable estimates, is topping $200 billion and counting.