Our shallow victory
Although many in this country have celebrated our military victory in Iraq
as some sort of awe-inspiring achievement, the fact is that the most
powerful military the world has ever seen, with all the latest, up-to-date,
high-tech weaponry, attacked a much weaker adversary crippled by over 12
years of strict economic sanctions, internationally supervised disarmament,
and constant low-grade warfare in the form of bombing sorties on select
targets in its southern and northern no-fly zones. For all practical
purposes, Iraq was a defenseless foe by virtue of having no air force and,
by comparison, crudely equipped forces. Did anyone really believe we would
not win this war?
Hundreds of innocent Iraqi civilians have been killed in this war, with many
more severely injured, disfigured and maimed. Homes, businesses and entire
families have been wiped out under a hailstorm of 20,000 bombs dropped on
Iraq in just under a month. For generations to come, many more will suffer
the debilitating consequences of radioactive debris left behind by our use
of depleted uranium weaponry. Several thousand Iraqi soldiers were killed in
a brave but futile effort to defend their homeland against an invasion by
the world's superpower. Yet, in all of Bush's speeches to pray rightfully
for our troops and mourn the deaths of our own soldiers, not once did I hear
him exhort us to pray for the Iraqi survivors and respectfully mourn the
many Iraqis killed in this war. Is such lack of compassion for non-
Americans really something of which to be proud?
Even before the announcement of the end of fighting, the White
House began spewing forth belligerent threats in the direction of Syria,
Iran and North Korea. With an ominous sense of déjà vu, unfounded
allegations of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction have now been
launched at Syria. Do we as Americans really agree with Bush's push for
never-ending war?
Our leaders' patriotic call to pummel weaker nations may be a real ego-
booster to some who otherwise feel powerless in life, but U.S. citizens are
paying the ultimate price in many ways. For one, this war has only served to
create more hatred and resentment around the world against the U.S., making
us much less secure in the long run.