The title of this peace shoud be, Well, No Kidding....While more than half the citizens of this country were busy waving flags and buying Support the Troops ribbons for their cars, many of us were sounding the alarm that this would be the outcome....., only to be considered unpatriotic.

I support the troops every day by praying that they will soon be home. I have no idea how we will ever regain the rest of things that we have lost as a nation due to this debacle.

The fact this administration lied 935 times to the American public, Congress, the U.N. and world to justify the pre-emptive strike, invasion and occupation of another soverign nation that had never threatened us is grounds enough for our country to lose its moral authority. That this government considers torture, indefinite incarceration, denial of due process, or illegal (warrantless) surveillance of its citizens "tools" by which to promote an ill-conceived agenda, means we are no longer a free republic or democracy, but akin to terrorist groups we claim to want to eliminate. We've become like them, and worse as hypocrites. When threats, intimidation, bribery, fear-mongering, and scare-tactics are utilized to assess and promote an agenda, rather than reason, wisdom, debate, thought of consequences, and weighing costs, the result is nothing less than dictatorial rule. When the legal, civil and human rights of people are violated for expediency or in urgency to achieve a goal, no one is safe, secure, and all become more vulnerable to abuses.
We have lost all credibility, moral authority, and our role as leader of the free world. We are no longer free in this country, and therefore, can not export a democracy that does not exist. We, the people, elected congressional representatives to end the war, the horrible economic and human cost (both to our American troops and iraqi civilians), and to stop the abuses of power within the administration. They have failed miserably. Impeachment for high crimes and treason was in order: lies to get us into the war, perjury of administration officials, outing a government covert agent, signing statements which circumvented the system of checks and balances, stacking the courts with judges and even two Attorneys General who were selected on the basis of partisan loyalty, willingness to promote the administration's agenda, shield it from inquiry, and unwillingness to uphold subpoenas, while undermining Constitutional guarantees for citizens. Congress did nothing, but collaborate, enable and promote this agenda consistently, and thus, violated the trust of the electorate, and their oath of office.
We, after 5 years of this illegal and immoral invasion and occupation, have a national debt nearly at $10-trillion. Oil prices are soaring ($110/barrel and climbing), a financial crisis brought on by a heavily indebted society (as our government), unregulated financial institutions, rising unemployment due to outsourcing of jobs, rising costs for utilities and food (linked to high fuel costs), with state and local governments burdened with larger costs (unemployment, medicare, welfare) and lower revenues (lost income and property taxes) as a result. The economic future is going to bleak for quite some time.
After 5 years, we have 4,000 Americans dead, 30,000 wounded (injured and disabled), another 23,000 ill from diseases and other conditions due to the war, 250 media, aid workers dead, nearly 350,000 Iraqi civilians dead, 1.2-million injured and maimed, and nearly 4.5 displaced Iraqis (ethnic-sectarian cleansing, living as refugees in neighboring countries or within Iraq). The direct cost of this war is nearly $1.65-trillion, and with disability claims and other benefits for soldiers is expected to nearly double. The war is not nearly over yet, and we've attained few, if any of the benchmarks for success this administration set.
First, there were no WMD's or nuclear programs to get rid of (the initial cause for the war). Al-Qaeda was not in Iraq, but in Afghanistan and now Pakistan, and their power and resources are increasing with our preoccupation, time, effort and money spent in Iraq, so we've actually enabled them to re-build and refortify their operations.
Second, we did not rid the world of tyrranical regime, as the government we recognize in Iraq is impotent, incapable, unwilling, and does not have the support of the Iraqi people. In the process, we've become more dictatorial and less free within the U.S., the former beacon of hope, freedom and liberty in the world.
Third, the revenues from oil fields in iraq have not enabled the Iraqi government to provide basic services, much less utilities for the people of that country, nor has it helped our economy (except oil companies with obscene profits), as fuel costs soar and with it prices of utilities and other goods. There are fewer good-paying U.S. jobs now than before the war began.
We must ask, who has gained from this war? Halliburton/KBR (Cheney), Hunt Oil/Carlysle Group (Bush family), Blackwater and other private contractors (many in which the cabinet and congress have direct vested financial interests). Everyone else has lost: families of American military personnel, state governments (lacking guard troops and equipment), taxpayers, and others. The major blows have been to the nation and people of Iraq and our U.S. military.

Five years ago today, as the invasion force perpared, a young woman stood in front of a bulldozer to try to block it from destorying the home of a Palestine doctor. The Isreali driver run her over several times, killing her.

Rachel Corrie was a soldier for peace and many people never heard about this was it was drowned in the drumbeats of war. I consider her the first casuality of this Second Gulf War, by the hand of our so-called ally.

I remember you Rachel, and all of the good people who are no longer with us.

Sic semper tyrannis

How dare you post this .. how *dare* you ... post this or anything about Tibetan repression and how candidates may react/respond to that

Jeremiah Wright and Geraldine Ferraro are much more significant than this ...much more significant ...

you can still find brits today who sing "rule brittania" and still believe it. the same will be said of some americans who will swear the USA is the greatest nation on earth while the rest of know shrub and his gang looted the country for 8 years of its prestige and wealth pushing the country into a downward spiral relenquishing its top spot, first to europe and then china.

This is well covered in Pat Buchanan's book 'Day of Reckoning'. I recommend reading it

Give me war or give me death or something to that effect. Who cares what the rest of the world thinks we are Americans. And a super power. And I might add the only super power left on earth. Kudos to us.

It is nice to be the super power and kick ass. War is romantic like a big wonderful play that is why the military calls it a theater, real romantic just as our pres stated. God bless him truly a great American, Christian and follower of Jesus. Waterboarding forever baby.

Now make sure you go out and vote for mc war and lets keep this super power thing going and double our military and privatize much of it like blackwater. Whoops got to go and do my job at wal mart as their new greeter.

God I love America the greatest country on earth just ask any American on the street. Condi stated that everyone in the world wants to move to America. What a wonderful lady so in touch with reality like her master oh I mean president.

Signed
Just ask your average arrogant self absorbed American.

America cannot afford to lose ANYMORE, influence, power and prestige. This is a VERY important point because it drives so much of our wrong headed policy.

Many third world Democracies look to America. This is a big problem for the rest of the world not just America. It's the worlds problem, just like a declining dollar. Its in the worlds best interest, not only America's for America to regain leadership, moral high ground. From there, the rest of the fruits - i.e, economic,etc. will follow .

To top it off, we need to Combat terrorism. Even Bush has remarked, this war isn't all about force, militarism, but about ideas and ideology. America NEEDS to look like the beacon of Democracy. Authenticity is the route forward. People need to start looking at the big picture and not be so arrogant and hubristic. Arrogant Hubristic people still see America as full of influence, power and prestige - that still might be true, but it cannot afford to lose anymore influence, power or prestige.

Yup, and McBush wants to stay for a hundred years? Anyone want to send their son or daughter or wife or husband over there for more of the same? Almost 4,000 of our finest dead, thousands wounded a good many of them so severly they will never walk or work again, not to mention the mental illness a good many are suffering. And oh, how about the Iraqi's, day in day out of being blown to bits, not being able to send their children to school, their country totally destroyed, no jobs, no economy and a corrupt leadership that Bush and Cheney put in. Not to mention our economy, our infrastructure collapsing, jobs gone, gas out of sight. Bush and the GOP are responsible for this and any Democrat that voted for the WAR in Iraq without even reading the NIE, hello Hillary. Give all of them the boot and vote for Obama, he may not be perfect but he's got a whole lot more evidence to me of wanting to bring this country back then the other two candiates!

This news piece by Warren Strobel is a *must read* for voters in 2008. Kudos to McClatchy for taking its duties at a member of the Fourth Estate seriously.

Now Cheney is in the Middle East, protecting the US's "interests" (translation=OIL) and supposedly trying to get Israel and the Palestinians to play nice.

Why do you think Cheney is in the Middle East, mainly going to Iraq? To say hello to al Maliki? To see how "democracy" is working? To give Gen. Petraus a "high five"? To get his candy and flowers from the grateful Iraqis whose lives he's shattered? Nope, he's there to make sure the troops are being lined up next to the Iranian border, ready to "surge" into Iran. Everybody ready for Bush's new Invasion? It should be going right before Summer.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Lost of US Power, Prestige and Influence? Is this a joke? About 600 thousands Iraq are dead, 3 to 4 million iraqis are living in refugee camps and/or displaced, a country in a stale-mate with continuous lawlessness and a corrupt ineffective government, a US price tag possible 2 trillion by the time this is all over, and our own human cost of sons and daughters 4 thousand and counting. Lost of Power, Prestige and Influence? Arre the least of it!

Republicans = Military Failure

Bush smirks because he knows that the Democrats are too feeble and spineless to impeach him for his many crimes.

Has anyone ever heard George W Bush speak ? How could anyone not blindly follow someone as articulate, insightful, and as logical as he is. Just look at the results of the last 7 years, the freedom we have brought to the Middle East, the prosperity at home. The whole world must have BDS, this man, is as close to Jesus as you will see on this earth.