Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice...

Here's a piece from the Washington Post, via the SF Chronicle. Here's the memo in question.

More evidence of heartless abuse of power, of lying out right to the American people on an issue of life and death, based on some kind of megalomaniacal power/resource grab and perhaps other motivations as well which may have nothing to do with politics or national resources.

Well, there is no security there now such that the resources can be tapped. Iraq isn't paying for its reconstruction, we are. Even though in May of 2003 our goofy child president said major combat operations had ended in Iraq, there is a Marine regimental combat team engaged in a major operation in NW Iraq, to try to whack the insurgency near the taproot, two years later.

Of course, one can say, "Well, of course things are fucked up. It's war, Man!" Uh huh. A war that didn't need to be fought; a misplaced effort when the real effort had to be continued elsewhere, when other threats loomed far more dangerous but were less conveniently dealt with. Bush got his war, American and Iraqi families are smaller or gone altogether, and where are we now? Al Qaeda remains, Bin Laden is out there somewhere thinking up his next vicious move, North Korea thumbs its nose at us with probable nucular weapons, Iran does the same but perhaps not with weapons yet but with more proven ties to terrorism than Saddam ever had, and our forces are stretched such that they are beginning to break down. Iraq is a shambles, victimized by corruption even after Saddam was long gone. The American taxpayers dollars have been wasted in the billions and they have been lied to yet again. I could go on and on. I didn't even mention government sanctioned torture or the grinding into the dust of civil liberties in the US.

The whole of the administration that perpetrated and continues to perpetrate the Big Lie should have all their pay and pensions assigned to military families that have lost loved ones in this war. They should have all their stock dividends diverted to the reconstruction of Iraq. They should then be forced to clean the halls of government through which they have trod with small, old toothbrushes and paint thinner to help get rid of the smell. Then they can go home.

I know, it'll never happen. They have screwed us all to the wall and will get away with it. The American people will demand no real accounting and these liars will duck hunt and diddle their money into whatever oblivion awaits them, perhaps while some other administration deals with the Second Korean War.