Morale for the masses

Ed Garvey has outdone himself today.

We are on the verge of bankruptcy, flag lapel pin or not, because of the costs of a war and occupation we cannot win -- Iraq. It's costing us $341 million per day. Yes. Per day. We are rattling rockets at a country that we could never defeat and occupy, Iran, and while that is ongoing, our nuclear-armed ally, Pakistan, is teetering on the brink of chaos. And the Taliban is doing quite well in Afghanistan.

Watching Condi Rice flit around the Middle East from crisis to crisis would make a wonderful movie for the late Peter Ustinov, but it isn't funny.

The latest estimate of Iraqi refugees is in the millions. Homeless people add millions more. Nicholas Kristof, writing in the New York Times last week, said 8 percent of Jordan's population consists of 480,000 Iraqi refugees -- and they are not welcome at an annual cost of $1,000 per year per Jordanian family. (Jordan opposed the invasion but ends up paying for a large chunk of it.) Their schools are overflowing and so are the brothels in Amman, writes Kristof. Desperate people in dire straights.

The truth of the situation in Iraq, if you ask any soldier serving or having returned from a tour, violence is down and civilian casualties are down, as well as military casualties. Iraqi forces are beginning to emerge as controllers of independent missions. Taliban leaders are still out there- yet they are still hunted, tracked, and caught as the fight progresses. Perhaps Congress has hijacked spending- but don't forget a thank-you note to Senator Feingold for the pork tacked on to the spending bills in excess of what President Bush requested this quarter.

It's this that kills me:

What is John McCain talking about? Security has improved after the "surge." Suppose security is better. Is there a connection between the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths, the flight of millions from their homes and the improved security? I don't know but I do know it will take years and billions of dollars to restore Iraq as a functioning nation. And has security improved to the point where our troops can leave, senator? Get serious.

But surge or no surge, what are we willing to spend to build infrastructure -- schools, libraries, roads, railroads? Can we find jobs for millions of Iraqis if we can't find work for millions of Americans?

This country had better be prepared to spend tens of billions per year in Iraq after peace is restored or face an explosion in the Middle East. Like it or not, there are consequences in going to war. More than 4,100 American soldiers have been killed and 25,000 seriously injured; millions of Iraqis have had their lives ruined. Thank you, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, George Bush, and Don Rumsfeld. Thank you.

"What are we willing to spend?" I'm sure you're cheap ass won't give a dime, Ed. But I'd rather ask "What are we NOT willing to do for the Iraqi people?" Out of compassion, out of faith, out of a greater will to shower freedom upon those as equally deserving, and out of it just being the right thing to do?

But you're right. Our country better be willing to spend and dedicate years to help maintain peace in Iraq - or we will face an explosion - and it'll be on our soil once again. They are still plotting and praying to kill us and take our freedoms away - to take your precious column away. And let's THANK the American soldiers: I think the Iraqis may see things differently - because of them more Iraqis will live in freedom, start businesses, see their daughters educated, pursue prominent careers, and take their rightful place at the global table of freedom.

It must be a dire life you lead- seeing only the worst in every situation?

Get a dog or something.