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Thousands

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Message Missy Beattie
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Two thousand, three hundred and eighty-one American troops have died in Iraq. Thousands of Iraqis have been killed. Even more have been maimed.

According to Condoleezza Rice, "The US has made thousands of tactical errors in Iraq." Of course. Those thousands are reflected most vividly in casualties--all unnecessary as we now know. A recent Reuters' article reveals that the Bush administration knew six months prior to the invasion of Iraq that there were no WMD there but simply chose to ignore this and, instead, pumped up the volume to stir nationalism and fear. Two thousand, three hundred and eighty-one American troops are dead for a lie. And the number will continue to rise because the Bush Administration had nothing new to offer, no inspired strategy or exit plan. Rather, the Department of Defense says that we won't withdraw our soldiers until the Iraqis are willing to risk their lives in support of a reliable government. And who could blame the people of Iraq for not stepping up when those who do are cut down daily in what really is a civil war of sectarian conflict regardless of what the president tells us?

I am morbidly fascinated by Rice's adjective, 'tactical.' The dictionary offers these synonyms for the word: deliberate; calculated; and premeditated. Seems she chose the correct description since sending our troops without proper body armor into a war based on lie after lie is certainly 'tactical.' And these errors have resulted in grotesque carnage. Two thousand, three hundred and eighty-one troop deaths, more than 17,500 wounded (many of these are devastatingly sever brain injuries and amputations), and thousands of Iraqis killed and maimed. Tactical, deliberate, calculated, and premeditated. Rice's admission was said as if she's putting all this to rest, explaining away the mistakes and, obviously, learning nothing as preparations move along the same failed path while the warmongers beat their drums for nuking Iran.

Bush's poll number is at its lowest point in his presidency. This disapproval isn't enough. Really, impeachment isn't enough either. He, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, Rove, Wolfowitz, and Perle should be cuffed, chained together, and removed from the property for which you and I pay and taken to another property with less amenities for which you and I pay. A trial date should be set. The families of the dead and injured, including the Iraqis should be present. Imagine the size of the room. Imagine the number of times you'd hear, "Order in the court." Imagine the rousing applause to hear a verdict of guilty for crimes against humanity.

The Bush Administration is a heart of darkness. Americans has been punished enough by these thugs.
It's time for justice. And peace. We won't have either if we allow GeorgeCo to continue.
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Missy Beattie lives in New York City. She's written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. An outspoken critic of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq, she's a member of Gold Star Families for Peace. She completed a (more...)
 
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