Pic Of The Moment: Ten Years Later

[EarlG]

Iraq war cost: $6 trillion. What else could have been done

[LuckyLib]

1. What a colossal, tragic, senseless waste.

[PETRUS]

2. In case you're not pissed off quite enough:

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/03/10-year-iraq-war-anniversary-what-we-know.html

[GiveMeFreedom]

25. This should have it's own OP.

Thanks for the post. Why not make an OP of this very important article? Peace.

[PETRUS]

27. I tried earlier.

Must not have done a very good job. It dropped like a rock:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022533692

I'll kick it though, and see what happens!

Thanks! Peace...

[Brigid]

3. $6 trillion?

For that we could have fixed up our infrastructure, educated our kids, provided health care for everyone, funded renewable energy projects, built a high-speed rail system . . . You get the idea.

[hue]

15. Iraq was an UNFUNDED war. It's one of the main reasons we went into debt w/G.W.Bush/Cheney!

[Plucketeer]

22. Yup...

and while we could afford to borrow with abandon to fight this Cheney-built conflict, we're now facing dire economic disaster (according to Boehner/Ryan) to spend a dime on our own needs. <-video of Ryan's birth.

[Glaisne]

4. Well let's see....

Money spent on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food assistance, college grants, schools, and infrastructure: OMG!!! Stop Spending!!! Stop Spending!!! Fix the Debt!!!

vs

Trillions wasted on a war based on lies with nothing good coming out of it: That was fun! Can we do it again with Iran?!

[progressoid]

5. Freedom ain't free!

Those eyerackees will thank us some day.

[Blanks]

31. They greeted us as liberators.

That's what Cheney told me.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. Debt is slavery, an excuse to force "austerity" (read: "theft") upon the poor. This was intentional,

was their plan all along, Shock Doctrine smash-and-grab.

[patrice]

8. Agreed. The plutocracy knew the financial sector would go south (AGAIN) & they needed to get their

hands around our throats, before it did.

Also, the purpose of the "political capital" that Bush bragged to Micky Herskowitz about, which he was to acquire from "Mission Accomplished", . . . the purpose of that political capital was to provide the congressional momentum to Privatize Social Security, in order to have even more power once what became the Derivative Crash of '08 occurred.

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. Exactly. n/t

[Ian_rd]

7. The most expensive daddy issues in the history of Planet Earth.

BUT FREEDOM!!!!111!

[lark]

16. Don't think it was daddy issues, except as a pretext.

It was all profit, all war, all the time = more $$ for Cheney n shrub and a 2nd term after they stole the first one thru their proxies, the Repugs of the SCOTUS. Think the decimating of the economy was just a jewel in the crown for them, it helped their ultimate ends - more power and more $ for the rich and less money for working class people - but wasn't the main intent. Stealing the oil for American oil companies was much more of a driver (see profit & power).

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Excellent, EarlG

That is perfect.

[AndyA]

10. Mission accomplished indeed!

I'm certain the Iraqi people are thankful that we shoved democracy down their throats. Now they're free!

[TommyCelt]

14. I remember seeing an avatar somewhere

A bunch of red white an blue bombs falling over a map if Iraq...

"WE'RE GONNA FREE THE SHIT OUTTA YOU!!!"

[Cleita]

11. As much as I appreciate, Rachel and everyone else reminding Americans

what a travesty and tragedy the wars were and still are, the perpetrators are still wandering around free, living the good life and enjoying the millions they made on them. Yet, none in our three branches of government have made an effort to bring them to justice.

[Euphoria]

13. +1. n/t

[hue]

18. So true! And some wonder why the US is "not liked or trusted" abroad/in other countries!!

[wordpix]

28. "the perpetrators are still wandering around free, living the good life"---this burns me up, too

It's OK all this has happened, just move along and don't notice there were American citizens who lied to Congress and the UN and took us to this disastrous war. Don't lift a finger to charge any of them, just ignore the lives lost, destruction of Iraq, and cost to American taxpayers while the perps walk free, enjoy their riches and pass them on to their spawn. The rest of you, just pay up and don't expect your Soc. Security or Medicare on their due date.

[AZ Progressive]

17. Who could justify this pricetag just to kick out a 'hated ruler'?

Not just a hated ruler, but a hated ruler that stabilized the country, kept Iran in check, allowed women to have more rights, and with our no fly zones keeping him in check, was relatively harmless to the Shiites and Kurds.

[hue]

19. The Iraq war is a huge terrible tragedy in many respects! Bush/Cheney & cronies require justice!!

[AZ Progressive]

20. One of the reasons why we don't enjoy first world privileges like universal healthcare

The American government rather spend its money on wars and tax cuts for the rich rather than first world privileges like universal healthcare and free higher education. Imagine how much better of a society would we be if much more of the federal budget would go into such things (and will actually perhaps even reduce the cost of living given that healthcare and higher education would already be paid for rather than people having to saddle themselves with tens of thousands of dollars of debt due to tuition costs and/or healthcare bills.)

[Berlum]

21. God Save America from Republican lies, greed, death & destruction

History will record this as a major lie-based tragic FAIL oc colossal proportions perpetrated by Republicans acting without cause and without honor.

[Initech]

23. Death, destruction, and sweet sweet profit = mission accomplished!

[RedstDem]

24. If we didnt impeach bush and chaney

after they lied to us about Iraq, we would be totally screwed by now.....

/sarcasm

[Submariner]

26. All the U.S. Military Iraq personnel died and were maimed for life for NOTHING

Not a fuc*king thing. A waste if lives and futures leading to a bumper crop of single parent families or orphans.

I don't see anyone in the land of punditry saying that yet, but it needs to be said.

ALL for NOTHING.....unless pumping up the ego of the Bush junta counts for something....which it doesn't imho.

Dubya needs to start some heavy drinking and prep for his eternal dirt nap.

[caledesi]

29. EarlG....you are SO reliable As usual, VERY funny . NT

[underpants]

30. Numbers on Medicare and Medicaid (1/2 of Medicare) very interesting

We spent about $550 billion on Medicare last year. Six trillion bucks would fund our healthcare coverage for seniors and disabled people for roughly a decade.

Federal spending for Medicaid, the healthcare program for low-income people, ran about $250 billion last year. So $6 trillion represents nearly 20 years of funding.

[blkmusclmachine]

32. Bush got his little war.

And all the criminals got off scot-free.

Bipartisanship sucks

[Rosa Luxemburg]

33. The GOP worry about Medicare yet they spent $6 triillion on Iraq

[tclambert]

35. They want money to go to arms dealers and contractor companies, not retired workers.

Medicare provides health care for retired workers, which just keeps those unproductive lower class people alive longer. Republicans see all of that as a waste of good money that should go to the 1%. The part that doesn't make sense to me is how many of those Medicare recipients vote for Republicans.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

36. They need to be educated

[SunSeeker]

34. K&R