Did We Win In Iraq?

Did we win in Iraq?  To answer this question, you must first determine what “we” stands for.  If you look at that decade long war from the perspective of the CEO’s of our arms manufacturers, our logistics team (Halliburton) or our private army (Blackwater) it was a clear and decisive win.  Perhaps somewhere in America, in a very nice country club or aboard a two hundred foot yacht, there should be a celebration held by the wealthy war profiteers.  Off of the Cayman Islands would be appropriate.  I would guess that it has already been held, but somehow wasn’t covered by our news media.

For the rest of us, who hold our commemoration on the ship of fools, it is not so joyous, nor can it be considered a win.  We attacked an innocent people, who had nothing to do with our 9/11 event.  We murdered well over one hundred thousand human beings.  Remember, the dozen and a half nuts on the 9/11 planes were Saudis.  Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and we knew this before we started the bombing.  “United We Stand” was the war cry of the gullible who mindlessly followed the war drums of the Bush Administration.  As for “Freedom”, who the hell got freedom?  What we did was rekindle the flames between the Shiites and the Sunnis and Baathists.  Do you believe that the butchering of Muslims by the US helped relations between Israel and its neighbors?  And do you believe that this recent Crusade helped the relationship between Christians and Muslims?  Lt Calley, of Mia Lia fame, best summed your involvement in this war up by saying, “We of the military are a spear.  We are thrown by the American People.”  So, you no longer need to worry about going to Heaven.

Now for a glimpse into the future:  there are roughly 5,000 embassy personnel remaining in Iraq, with a little over 100 U.S. Marines providing security.  The U.S. Embassy there coordinates U.S. foreign military sales to Iraq and the rest of the Middle East.  Those arms will ultimately be used against us, if history repeats itself.

How many embassy folks were killed in Benghazi?  Was it five?  Well, that is but a drop in the bucket compared to what will probably happen in Iraq to our embassy there.  We are operating our largest embassy in the world in a country where we have no friends, but the vultures.   Americans are no more loved in Iraq than in Benghazi.  If you were a life insurance company, how would you feel about insuring those 5,100 lives and will the Democrats or the Republicans be blamed for this coming event?  I would guess that they will blame each other.

Will the religious wars ever end in the Middle East?  If you are a person of Faith, you know that Jesus will come down from the Heavens and sweep up His little darlings who chose to flame the fire.  There will be some suffering, then silence in our world.

    

Comments are welcome, Old Buz

Try a Great Game

Here is the game.  You pick the President of The United States for 2016 and beyond.  There is no game board, no video and you won’t even need your frickin cell phone.  Yes, I know, your left hand and your brain will not work properly without the cell there, but try the strange old world of no cell phone, if only for a few minutes.

Here is a sample:  “If I could choose any living American to become President, in the next election, it would be Bill Gates.”  Next, you have to support your choice with 5 or more reasons.

1.     1. The man is well respected and known, the world over.  His voice and his ideas will be listened to and respected by the voters and their representatives.  He would rule the independent vote and earn many votes from both Democrats and Republicans.  He has massive name recognition, without campaign spending and the name recognition is positive.

2.     2. He has no allegiance to either political party and will not be dictated to by them.  I don’t believe that either party can afford to buy him.  I believe that he will weigh each proposal before him on its own merits.  That would be a major change in our political system.  Our elected legislators may like observing this phenomenon so much that they may step back from the system and outlaw political parties.  This act would free these alpha dogs from the short choke chains that their party has them on.

3.    3.  Bill is smart.  His SATs were in the high 1500s and he attended Harvard, where he dropped out as soon as he realized that his time could be spent more effectively in industry than in studying industry.  It could not hurt our nation to have a smart person hold the office of President.  I believe that a Bill Gates would not lead this nation into an unnecessary war, like the one we are presently removing ourselves from.  He would have more respect for the intelligence of the people of Our Nation.

4.     4. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a place where the Gates family presently puts its money and its mind.  It is a force for advancing health and education, the World over.  The old cliché that “A rising tide raises all boats” could not be truer and Bill Gates and his wife Melinda are leaders of this concept on our planet.

 

5.     5.  Bill Gates is recognized among industrial giants as a giant among them.  When he speaks in front of TED.com, usually on the subject of future education or carbon’s effects on our environment, the “scarecrows” (those who are out standing in their fields) listen with respect.

The only problem I can see in getting Bill to take this step and run for office, is that he would have to give up the good life that he has now and move into a non-functioning neighborhood.  Perhaps he would enjoy the challenge.

Comments are welcome, Old Buz