THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN!

(Asian Times, Frazer Chronicle)

 

When the United States, the United Kingdom and the coalition of the willing attacked Iraq in March of 2003, millions upon millions protested around the world. With the United States leading the way, the war of shock and awe was just the beginning, the ensuing occupation of Iraq by the U.S. and the coalition of the willing, or the Coalition Provisional Authority, (CPA) left the country’s infrastructure in shambles and the country bankrupted.

 

Remember that Iraq was the same country that the United States attacked in retaliation for Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait on August 2 of 1990. On August 7, 1990 American troops on Saudi Arabian soil, and is dubbed Operation Desert Shield. On January 17, 1991 the United States initiates Operation Desert Storm, which included air assaults on both Kuwait and Iraq.

 

The ensuing war lasts a total of 38 days, again remembering that Iraq is the very same country that posed nuclear danger to the United States and our allies. This is the same country that was completely and utterly brought to its collective knees in less time than spring training takes for Major League baseball teams.

 

Also during this timeline, information surface that Saddam Hussein’s military forces were in the midst of crushing the Shiite in southern Iraq, and also were attacking the Kurds in the northern part of the country. Reaction by the United States and the coalition of the willing, silence…..and a non-aggression attitude.

 

However after Saddam, Iraq…..and the rest of the world saw firsthand the military might of the United States; aggressive attitudes were undoubtedly put on the back burner with regards to how other countries felt about military confrontation.

 

The United States continued to watch Iraq throughout the last decade of the 20^th century albeit from afar, or so they say. In 1998 the Project for the New America Century writes a letter to President Clinton saying that the President’s policy in Iraq is failing, and that the only way to eliminate the dangers of Iraq using weapons of mass destruction is to eliminate Saddam Hussein. The letter is signed by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton, William Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz and Zalmay Khalilzad.

 

George W. Bush is inaugurated as the countries 41^st president and in short order filled his administration with all of those like minded individuals including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, Under-Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and enlisted such others as John Bolton, Bill Kristol and Zalmay Khalilzad.

 

2001, AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ

The world for President Bush and all of those people who were like minded changed forever, it was like they had just watched a war movie, and they needed to go out…..collectively and shoot somebody, almost anybody to take the sting that was September 11, 2001.

 

Going into Afghanistan and routing out Osama bin Laden and his people was completely justified and understandable. I personally supported the Bush administration’s actions, and felt that militarily we needed to do more to track down the Osama and his people.

 

We now have been in Afghanistan for thirteen years, we have killed Osama bin Laden, we have dismantled the Taliban and eliminated pretty much the hostiles in the country. Yet we are there, we are spending money, and we are putting American military at risk…..WHAT FOR?

 

We invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003, and stayed until December 14, 2011, again, WHY, there never was any weapons of mass destruction, it has been proven beyond any doubt that Hussein was never a part of September 11, and to top things off, we even captured Hussein, he was put on trial, found guilty, hanged and buried. Yet we stayed until December of 2011.

 

If somebody was keeping score, it would read U.S. 1, Afghanistan, 0 and U.S. 1, Iraq, 0 unless you count the first gulf war, and then it would read, U.S. 2, Iraq, 0. Yet we stayed, and stayed, and stayed to…..nation-build, help out our brethren, and make sure that their governments were operated on a proper basis.

 

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN

The scorecard now reads like a horror story, no heat, no air-conditioning, sky-high unemployment, medical treatment problems, government in disarray, fatalities mounting each and every day, a civil war that rages almost out of control. Is Iraq better off with their new found freedom, and democratic government, why not ask the 3,000 that have died just in March…..oh wait, they’re dead. And yes war machines are still a priority.

 

Now we move to Afghanistan, could it be any different there, well actually NO, oh sure the business people that make the war machines are doing very well…..thank you. But the shootings, the battles, and the human carnage continue.

 

Now I wonder when we will leave Afghanistan, and more to the point, how will we leave that country, will it be a broken hulk of a former country where people might have suffered, but it was almost by their own design.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY