Iraq War versus Iraq Occupation

I truly apologize for constanly, and thoughtlessly, referring to the ongoing occupation as the "War in Iraq." (My "apologies" are getting to be a habit ...)

Listening to Thom Hartmann today on Air America while finishing the (ugh!) exam grading task, I realized that many of us, but not all, are falling into the trap of believing the Republican rhetoric about "cutting and running" from the "War in Iraq." Interestingly, my brother, Richard, in Connecticut has constantly reminded me that 90% of all Americans are too busy cutting their lawns, listening to their iPods, rushing their children to school or the doctor's office, watching "American Idol," ad infinitum ... to know much of anything about what's going on in Iraq other than the dull background sounds from a stray radio or TV set and all they can recall about it is that it's some kind of "war" and, of course, it's unamerican to "cut and run" from any war.

But, the fact is, as Thom Hartmann pointed out so well today in his fill-in assignment on XM-167, it's not a "War in Iraq" but an "Occupation in Iraq" -- following a war that we "won" (more or less) when President Bush declared it so back in 2003.

He further pointed out that the Democrats will almost certainly lose seats rather than gain seats in November if we allow the GOP to co-opt the way we characterize the actions ongoing in Iraq. It's a FAILED OCCUPATION!! ... certainly not a war!

We invaded a rag-tag country trapped between no-fly zones north and south, under severe sanctions for a decade, with unlimited (as of the night of "shock and awe") inspections aimed at assuring the non-existence of WMDs ... and whose leader (Saddam Hussein) couldn't even travel outside of the birdcage within which we had him trapped. All we did on that night of "shock and awe" (which I watched with excitement and pride, sadly enough) and the weeks that followed was to tip the cage over, pour our young servicemen and women into the open and flapping cage door ... and win the war, so to speak!

I was totally unaware of the thousands of men, women and children who were dying on that sad night, nor was I aware that three years later, we would have topped 2500 deaths and 18,000 seriously wounded of our own boys and girls (I'm old enough to refer to the young men and women in Iraq as "boys and girls") "occupying" that sad and crippled country. And to realize that we have dropped LGBs and other munitions on sleeping Iraqi civilians, including countless women and children, to the tune of more than 100,000 dead ... makes my heart bleed. Indeed, I was watching many children dying in their beds from our bombs on that exciting night of "Shock and Awe." And yes, my heart leaped with pride as I watched those green and gray images on my large screen TV and listened to the excitement in the voice of the British announcer who happened to be the voice from the tube on the channel I was watching.

But that is history and today is today.

What have we accomplished? Well, for one, we have given the Al-Qaida a great boost for their recruitment worldwide and a huge training ground for Iraqi-born would-be terrorists. And the additional "benefits" are swept under the rug as the Administration refuses to acknowledge the more than a dozen permanent bases in Iraq -- after losing the bin Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia -- that are under construction by such favored contractors as Haliburton, et al.

The financial costs of the war are hidden rather well in "continuing resolutions" and "supplemental appropriation" bills that add to something like a trillion dollars that our children's children will be paying off in the decades ahead.

It's interesting to note that not a single US service man or woman was killed by an Iraqi during the full decade before we invaded Iraq and that the countries who most contributed money, manpower and planning for the horrors of 9/11 are even yet considered our "allies" in the "war" on terror. Hellfire! We even provided quick and safe exit from the US for the entire bin Laden family members who were here during the week of 9/11!

Yes, I think we can say that the "War in Iraq" is over!!! It's a failed and costly "Occupation in Iraq" that tears at the fabric of our country today.