The TRUE COST of GW BUSH'S IRAQ WAR
by Larry S. Rolirad

The only people I hear saying that our troops death tolls are low are the republicans. Just how many of our soldiers do republicans believe a corporate war is worth anyway? After all, our troops are only in iraq to protect the financial interests of corrupt American corporations, like Dick Cheney's Halliburton. In 2000, Dick Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton. A year an a half later, Cheney was the vice president and he and GW Bush were funneling as much of our treasury as they could in no-bid contracts to Cheney's old company, Halliburton. Where is the outrage from republicans for a clear and obvious conflict of interest? After all, Dick Cheney is still making tons of money off of HALLIBURTON. And since GW Bush and all of the neocons in the corrupt Bush Regime started their Afghan and Iraq wars Halliburton stock has increased a staggering 740%. Who says this war is not about money? Are they all fools? Of course the Iraq was is about money, hundreds of billions of money.

People kill each other for handfuls of dollars every day. Don't you think that corporate executives, along with corrupt political hacks like Bush and Cheney, would not be willing to kill thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of people to make hundreds of billions of dollars? If you don't believe that there are such evil people, like Bush and Cheney, and those who are their corporate masters, you are a fool.

But regardless of all of the billions being made by corrupt corporations republicans will always believe that the troop death counts are low. Republicans apparently have zero regard or empathy for the families of all those killed defending the financial interests of corrupt corporations. Republicans have zero compassion for all of the loved ones of our fallen soldiers. Brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, children, grandparents, friends, or those who are engaged to be married to one of our nation's finest, all left with broken hearts which will never mend. Why do republicans have so little regard for these people? I know that republicans laugh at people who 'feel'. Republicans call people who care about others as 'touchy feely'. Republicans belittle any signs of public affection or concern for one's fellow man. Perhaps they display zero concern for our troops because they are afraid of showing their emotion. Or perhaps they lack the ability to have any empathy for others. Or maybe a combination of both. One thing can be said with certainty, the trail of tears from the loss of even one of our soldiers is endless.

If republicans put the interests of the United States, ahead of the best interests of their corrupt political party, the war in Iraq would certainly have be avoided. But republicans never like to use diplomacy when they have to opportunity to use violence to solve a problem. Remember, any fool can start a war. It takes someone with foresight, wisdom, and intelligence to avoid war. Unfortunately, GW Bush has none of those qualities.

The costs in American lives in each war the United States has participated in its history are listed below. Note that in Bush's Iraq War we have lost 1,925 American troops, so far. That will soon grow to half the number of Americans who died freeing our country from England, or 4,435 colonialists. Freeing our people from the tyrannical and oppressive King George of England was worth the effort and lives. The lives lost in Bush's Iraq War are not. Republicans continue to say the troop death count in Iraq is low and acceptable. But almost all of those republicans do not have any of their sons, daughters, brothers or sisters in Iraq. It is ironic how those who bang the drums of war the loudest are the last ones to sacrifice themselves or one of their own in war. The appropriate name for them is "Chickenhawks".

Revolutionary War ..... 4,435 DEAD
War of 1812 ..... 2,260 DEAD
Mexican War ..... 73,283 DEAD
Civil War: (combined) ..... 558,052 DEAD
-----Confederate..... 198,524 DEAD
-----Union ..... 359,528 DEAD
Spanish-American War ..... 2,401 DEAD
World War I ..... 116,708 DEAD
World War II ..... 407,316 DEAD
Korean War ..... 33,651 DEAD
Vietnam War ..... 58,244 DEAD
GHW Bush's Gulf War ..... 293 DEAD
GW Bush's Iraq War ..... 1,925 DEAD ... and rising quickly ...

Since Americans could be in Iraq for at least another ten to fifteen years, the death toll could be in the tens of thousands. And all of those dead Americans would have been sent to Iraq to die because Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rice, Rumsfeld, and the rest of the neocons in the Bush Regime ALL LIED. They deliberately LIED to justify declaring war against a country which posed a ZERO threat to the United States, or the American people. They LIED when they said Iraq could attack the United States within a 45 minute period. They LIED when they said that Saddam Hussein was involved with the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks. They LIED when they said that Hussein and Osama bin Laden were allies. They LIED when they said that Iraq had a nuclear capability. They LIED when they said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They LIED when they said they the Iraq War was to liberate the Iraqis. They LIED when they said "Mission Accomplished". They LIED, they LIED, and 1904 American soldiers have DIED, so far.

Check out the costs of all the wars America has been involved in the chart below. Note that Bush's Iraq War is just beginning and the total projected cost could exceed ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. This is based on the American presence in Iraq to last at least another ten years. The cost of Bush's Iraq War will be higher ($1,156 billion) than all of the other wars in our history combined ($921.9 billion), minus the cost of WWII. At least in WWII we fought in two theaters against two huge and formidable enemies, Japan and Germany. In Iraq, we are just fighting a rag tag group of insurgents, which by the way, we will never, I repeat, NEVER eradicate from the country of Iraq. For every insurgent killed there will be another ten or hundred to take his place. (Note: Totals are in present day dollars.) (Ref:  http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/cwc/other/stats/warcost.htm)

Revolutionary War.....1.2 BILLION
War of 1812.....0.7 BILLION
Mexican War ..... 1.1 BILLION
Civil War (combined) ..... 44.4 BILLION
-----Confederate ..... 17.1 BILLION
-----Union ..... 27.3 BILLION
Spanish-American War ..... 6.3 BILLION
World War I ..... 196.5 BILLION
World War II ..... 2,091.3 BILLION
Korean War ..... 263.9 BILLION
Vietnam War ..... 346.7 BILLION
GHW Bush's Gulf War ..... 61.1 BILLION
GW Bush's Iraq War ..... 196.1 BILLION ... so far ...

Since the projected period Americans will have to remain in Iraq is at least ten years, the total of Bush's Iraq War could be a staggering 1,156 billion dollars. That is 1.156 TRILLION dollars. (Ref:  http://costofwar.com/)

Not only is Bush's Iraq War not worth the cost of our dead soldiers and the hundred thousand dead Iraqis, it is also not worth the staggering cost in cold cash. The Iraq War is the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of the United States. And the dunce who started it is the political prostitute GW Bush whose every move is controlled by his corporate pimps.

Footnote: Even though Saddam Hussein was killing his own people while GHW Bush was president no republican condemned GHW Bush. No republican while Reagan or GHW Bush were presidents talked about liberating the Iraqi people from Hussein. In fact, no republican from 1980 to 2003 said anything about liberating the Iraqi people, even though a half million Kurds were murdered by Saddam Hussein. Most of the Kurds were slaughtered while Ronald Reagan was president. Why were republicans so silent while a half million Kurds were being murdered under Reagan and GHW Bush? Republicans whine today saying "But Saddam Hussein was killing his people". Apparently it takes a long, long, long, long, long time for republicans to find compassion for others. But while republicans are crying out for the liberation of the Iraqi people they aren't saying a word about liberating the billion other people in the world who are in countries with ruthless, oppressive and murderous dictators. How about North Korea? How about China? How about Cuba? Oh yeah, the oil was easier to steal in Iraq.

Copyright 2005, Larry S. Rolirad, All Rights Reserved
This article may be reproduced and distributed as long as the author is clearly credited.