Today (or yesterday, but it feels like today) was the anniversary of the war in Iraq. Five years ago today, our disgraced "President" George W. Bush sent American troops to war, and just 19 days before that, he stood on USS Abraham Lincoln addressing the nation with a "Mission Accomplished" sign behind him. Bullshit.
What was accomplished? The 3,990 US soldiers killed in Iraq (as of yesterday)? Or the 82,249 – 89,760 DOCUMENTED deaths of Iraqi civilians (think of the amount if we estimated the undocumented deaths and added it to these)? The torture committed in Abu Grahib Prison or Guantanamo Bay? Bush claims he is "spreading Democracy" but if Iraq is now a "democratic" country, what are we fighting? We can not fight terrorism. It will ALWAYS be there. The citizens of the world that support this war need to see that the United States is not a heroic country and can not fight evil. Besides, the torturous acts Americans are committing against their prisoners IS terrorism. I guess we must be some hypocrites, eh?
Yesterday, I attended SPEAK UP! a benefit concert for Peace in Iraq and Justice at Home. Sure, I enjoyed the music, but I also learned something with the audience. Back in November, the coverage of the Iraq war was down to 28% in the news. Now it's down to 3%. Last month, I heard Heath Ledger's name daily. He died, but how many Iraqi civilians died the same day he did? How many people died of hunger and disease in third world countries that day? More than the single white man that starred in a movie or 20. He was a source of entertainment but these are PEOPLE I am talking about. One person makes the world turn?
This is a critical time in our lives, everyone. This is one of the biggest elections in America's history that could determine whether we stay in a MEANINGLESS war or if we get our troops out of Iraq and stop killing innocents and our troops. Vote for someone that will not keep us in for another 100 years (McCain said he would keep the troops in for another 100 years...do you want him as president??). Vote for someone that recognizes the meaning of human rights and understands this war is important and wrong. I don't know if you notice this by the way, but none of the presidential candidates spoke extensively about their plan for Iraq and that's a little scary. So do us all a favor: ENCOURAGE THEM. Hopefully this can get to someone that has some kind of access to these important candidates to knock some sense into them.
I could go on all night about this, but unfortunately I need to sleep soon. So last but not least, abolish apathy. To all of you that say they don't care about politics because "politicians are all snakes" or something in that category: fuck you. Ever heard of the lesser evil? You're one of the reasons this idiot was put into office. This is why the news is structured like in a way where reporters can say something like, "in other news, there's a war going on somewhere." Please, stop sitting around and say something. Do something. Your opinion makes a difference. Spread the word.
Sources:
-http://www.iraqbodycount.o
-http://www.unitedforpeace.
-http://www.newyorker.com/r
-http://www.nytimes.com/200
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