In the last few years a lot has happened in terms of American history. On Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center. In March 2003, the first 90,000 soldiers were sent to Iraq and Operation Iraqi Freedom began. Somehow in 2004, President Bush managed to be re-elected. In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wreaked utter havoc on the Gulf Coast, leaving thousands of people homeless and a disheveled city of New Orleans. And, just recently, the death toll in Iraq reached 4,000 soldiers.
Four thousand people will be missed and remembered by family and friends. Four thousand people will not be able to live life as they would have liked to once their stint in the military was over. Yet, even though the number of U.S. casualties has steadily risen over the past five years, it seems that our illustrious president could care less.
After a State Department briefing, Bush said, "there is an outcome that will merit the sacrifice." What outcome is he talking about? The outcome should have come long before the total number of fatalities reached 4,000. There is no reason for that many people to perish fighting a war that has nothing to do with terrorism.
Does Bush really think that our presence is wanted in Iraq? How can he possibly believe that good is being done when there are hundreds if not thousands of Iraqis dying right along with American and allied soldiers? Doesn’t he realize that this war is causing our nation to plummet deeper and deeper into debt?
It seems as if this war will never end. The person we should be going after is still at large and is probably plotting another sinister and fatal plot against our country or our allies. But Bush keeps our family members and friends in a country that probably doesn’t want our help.
The longer our troops and allies stay in that area, the longer innocent civilian lives are affected in Iraq. For example, shops in some Baghdad neighborhoods were forcibly ordered to close Wednesday by the Mahdi Army.The Washington Post reported.
Random arrests and releases of detainees were among the reasons why the militia forced shop owners to close. A closed shop means a shortage of goods needed to survive, such as groceries and household items.
Closed shops also mean the owners will not be able to turn a profit for an undetermined amount of time. They are people too, and need to feed, house and clothe their families along with everyone else. Along with closed shops, bus and taxi drivers have been asked to cease their routes. People can no longer get to and from the doctor. People cannot travel somewhat safely across town to see after family members or take their children to school. Yet Bush wants to keep a presence of troops in Iraq. He could care less that our presence is affecting the day-to-day routine of civilians.
The thought of dozens of people being killed either by gunfire, suicide bombs or other means doesn’t even faze them. According to Bush, the troops who lost their lives fighting for our freedom did not lose them in vain. But in sense they are dying in vain because this is a fool’s war. Our country is still not safe from terrorists or terrorism. There still could be terrorist cells right in our backyard and we don’t know it. And there is still a possibility that our loved ones fighting this war may not come back to us.
Latimer, a post-baccalaureate English student, can be reached via [email protected].
