by B. R. GOWANI
(Left) President George W. Bush, under the banner “Mission Accomplished”, on an aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003. SOURCE/Wikipedia
(Right) President Barack Obama at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, announcing the end of the Iraq War on December 14, 2011. SOURCE/Inquirer
President George W. Bush
after a staged entry
on the USS Abraham Lincoln
under the banner of
“Mission Accomplished”
declared to the nation
the end of the
US combat operations in Iraq
between March 20, 2003
when the war began
and May 1, 2003
when Bush announced the end
138 US soldiers had died
and 542 were wounded
soon thereafter, the guerrilla warfare began
the war didn’t end
Obama, who as a presidential candidate
had opposed the war
inherited that war from Bush in January 2009
and continued for almost three years
while announcing the end of the war
(official ending date is December 15)
Obama told the troops at Fort Bragg:
“Those last American troops …
will cross the border out of Iraq
with their heads held high”
and those US troops who lost their heads
did, of course, crossed Iraq’s border
but in coffins
the total US casualties
4,487 dead
32,000 injured
over a million Iraqis died too
but that’s a footnote in the US media
except the families and friends
of the US troops
no one felt the horror of the war
it was just another war movie on TV
peace is not in sight in Iraq
the communal tension and violence
between Sunnis and Shias
may erupt into open civil war
Obama avoided Iraq
that task fell to
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
who in a small ceremony
(which was not attended by
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
and President Jalal Talabani
even though they were invited)
at Baghdad’s international airport said:
“Your dream of an independent and
sovereign Iraq is now a reality.”
“To be sure, the cost was high,
in blood and treasure for the United States,
and for the Iraqi people.”
“Those lives were not lost in vain.
They gave birth to an independent,
free and sovereign Iraq.”
“We will continue to help Iraq. …
We will continue to have
a robust and enduring military presence
across the Middle East.”
in other words:
we are in the vicinity
we’ll be there when you call us
or when we feel like coming
we’ll manufacture a lie that you called us
and we’ll enter your country uninvited
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Gen. Martin Dempsey added:
“We’ve paid a great price here,
and it’s a price worth paying.”
Albrightesque
it’s always worth it
when both the money and the blood
is not yours
Has the war ended?
civil war is looming in Iraq
while the US is going to sell
11 billion dollars of arms and training
constant turmoils requires
constant interventions requires
constant arms supplies requires
constant justifications requires
constant propaganda requires
constant …
Arms industry
and the US is also going to sell
30 billion dollars arms and
fighter jets to Saudi Arabia
on the other hand
the US is going to buy back
shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles
from militia members in Libya
because they pose a threat to Libya’s stability
there are many people in this world
who are victims of power
but the US taxpayer is
one of the most abused ones
almost 40% of the corruption
in the world is arms related
you need one bullet to kill one person
to be on the safe side, make it 10 bullets
most of the weapons are never used
but the arms and ammunition industry
fills up pockets of so many death merchants
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com