Why We Should Stop This War

We invaded Iraq on March 20, 2002. After 24 months and 1700 U.S. casualties, most Americans agree that the war is going badly and that we should get out. Here are a few good reasons:

This war has nothing to do with 9/11. This is Big Lie Number One that most of us have figured out already. It is very simple: the 9/11 hijackers came from Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda found sanctuary in Afghanistan and was run by bin Laden. We attacked Afghanistan to get bin Laden, but he is still on the loose, probably in the border country of Pakistan. Saddam has no connection to Al Qaeda whatsoever.

There are no Weapons of Mass Destruction. This is Big Lie Number Two. The Bush administration and the Blair administration knew it before the war. The fact is Saddam had destroyed any weapons of mass destruction, probably years before we invaded. WMD should really stand for “Willful Mass Deception.”

If we stay, we are doing more harm than good. Now that we have invaded a sovereign nation, overthrown a dictator, allowed looting of cultural treasures, created an interim government, tortured prisoners, and held elections we are done. Violence is escalating and most Iraqis see us as occupiers, not liberators. The U.S. presence is drawing terrorists to Iraq who were not there before. It is time to let Iraq deal with its own problems.

We have plenty of problems at home to focus our efforts and funds on. Military families are stressed out. Reservists deserve a break. A few years after the Clinton Administration left us with a surplus, we are $7.8 Trillion in debt and we have spent 178 Billion as of this writing fighting this war. That would have provided 8,664,477 college scholarships, hired over three million new school teachers, or provided 107 million needy kids with healthcare insurance.

Enough! Begin now to stop the war. — Todd