by James Glaser
November 28, 2005

On March 19th, 2003, George Bush launched his war on Iraq, diverting thousands of troops from the job of finding Osama bin Laden, to start a new search. This time they would be looking for Saddam Hussein.

On May 1st, of that year, George Bush announced to the nation and the world that it was Mission Accomplished in Iraq. One of the first things America’s troops tried to do in the war was to take out Saddam and his family with a bombing run on his palace. For the first six weeks of the war, United States forces repeatedly bombed any structure we were told Saddam might be, killing and maiming hundreds of innocent Iraqis in the process.

It’s almost three years later, and we have now killed or wounded tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, but we did find Saddam and have him in custody, although Osama is still at large. Many people will tell you that Saddam’s capture, even at the cost of tens of thousands of lives is a step forward.

Not only did it cost tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis to capture Saddam, it has taken tens of thousands of American lives too. There are the 2,107 killed out right, another 15,704 American troops wounded, many of whom have lost limbs, their sight, or their minds. Then there are the uncounted thousands of veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress and the thousands more who will be suffering from combat stress in the years to come.

The White House will tout all of the accomplishments they think they have made in Iraq, but the sad thing is that Iraq is taking steps backwards almost every day. Iraq no longer pumps the oil it did pre-war, nor do the people have the electrical power or clean water supply they had before George Bush decided to bring them “freedom.”

Iraq’s first post-Saddam Prime minister, Ayad Allawi told the Observer newspaper in Great Britan, that “People are doing the same as in Saddam’s time and worse. It is an appropriate comparison. People are remembering the days of Saddam. “Allawi accused fellow Shias in the new Iraqi government of being responsible for death squads and secret torture centers. He said, “The brutality of elements in the new security forces rivals that of Saddam’s secret police.”

These new security forces are learning how to use these new tactics from the American troops who are training them. Repeatedly George Bush has praised this new Iraqi Army, saying, “When the Iraqis stand up, Americans can stand down.”

George Bush took a big step in attacking Iraq and getting rid of Saddam, but for the Iraqi people, Bush has pushed them two or more steps back from where they were before America attacked. Tens of thousands dead, tens of thousands maimed, hundreds of thousands displaced, cities destroyed, people living in the horror of war year after year, with sporadic electrical power, dirty drinking water, and chaos all around.

American citizens are hurt and upset about American troops having to do two, three, and now sometimes four tours of duty in Iraq, with only short stays here at home in-between, but the Iraqi people are living one long tour in the combat zone, and they don’t see that as a step in the right direction.