It continues, of course. It will continue as long as U.S. troops are there. Bismarck once said, “It is unworthy of a great state to dispute over something which does not concern its own interests.” How true. As the Democrats and Republicans worry over what to do about Iraq, not a single one has said “Let’s get out now, apologize, pay for damages, and get it over with.” All those who are in the know, realize that the presence of foreign entities in Iraq, are what’s causing the trouble. Civil war if we left? What is going on now with over a hundred deaths every day? If that isn’t a ’civil war,’ I have never heard of one. I have said that it would be smart to turn Saddam loose also, and I still think that would be a fine thing to do. World opinion is strongly against killing him, so why not turn him loose and let him try to re-organize the place and bring order back, which is what was there before our invasion? Maybe they would kill him, but we certainly shouldn’t.
Iraq is certain to be a bad smudge on America’s record in future history books. When have we ever before invaded a nation which posed no threat to us, made no overt actions, nor was in any way hostile? We invaded a sovereign nation with 25 million inhabitants, which was at peace, whole, orderly, and prosperous. We didn’t like Saddam, because he was a dictator, or so Dubya and his congressional cohorts said anyway. Well, so is Cuba, North Korea, and a few other places on earth. Was it oil? Maybe, but anyone with a product to sell, will always sell it to the highest bidder, whether they like them or not, so that was no excuse. Because Saddam was pricing his oil in euros? Lame excuse. There was no excuse. It takes guts to admit one was wrong, apologize, and pay for damages, whether it is an auto accident, broken marriage, or broken nation. When aggressors stick around and continue aggressing, rather than leaving; it is criminal.
The Birchers are correct when they say about the United Nations, GET OUT. They should say the same thing about Iraq, which is what we should do. All the Iraq expenses are “off budget,” and are not counted in the official deficit, which grows hourly. Disaster is what it all is.