Today is the five-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
28 thoughts on “Waste-Not Wednesday: The Human Race”
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Today is the five-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
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Tracy Abell 
Oh. Look at those numbers.
I used to follow a website that quoted the daily death statistics. It made me feel so depressed, I decided to stop looking. But I guess you give me no choice today.
Ugh.
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Sorry for shoving the reality in your face but I didn’t feel right about letting the day go back unremarked. I’m getting damned tired of changing those numbers. Sigh.
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No, you’re right. We need to see it, in our faces. After all, seeing those numbers is what got all those folks attending the caucus. So, way to go for putting the sadness out there instead of hiding it.
Still, wouldn’t it just be so much easier if we were all a bunch of ostriches? I think that’s what I’ll ask to be in my next life.
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Or a crow. I’m having such fun watching them this spring. They definitely have carefree attitudes (at least from where I’m sitting).
We’re going to get through this and make the world a better place for our kids. We owe them that.
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Oh. Look at those numbers.
I used to follow a website that quoted the daily death statistics. It made me feel so depressed, I decided to stop looking. But I guess you give me no choice today.
Ugh.
LikeLike
A waste indeed. Almost 100,000 people, with hearts, minds, families. Gone. Not to mention the lives of people and animals that could have been saved or improved by spending the Iraq war money on things like providing health care to uninsured Americans and working on the environmental crisis, or, or…like a MILLION things that would be better to spend trillions of dollars on!
Boy, that’s depressing. Time to look at cute kitten pictures.
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I agree. There are so many things that the money could have been spent on to improve American society and the lives of our people. Health care, schools, the environment, the infrastructure, the list is huge.
Can we add to the sign?
US diplomats killed in Iraq– 8, but I can’t see if the number went up.
Same percentage as those who serve in the military–yet the diplomats aren’t in combat (Hm. MANY sites are purged. Remember my earlier comments about the US and propaganda. Aha. Not good. They are hiding the real info from us. It looks like the info has been blacked out on different sites and is now “classified.”)
This one is personal to me because my husband could be forced to serve there and I know people who have been there. I understand the war on terror–I know people who have been injured in bombings and I’ve been taught signs to look for to minimize our chances of being a target.
WHY is this number purged from every location on the internet. The info was there 2 months ago. And of course the official number was less than the real number.
US civilians killed in Iraq– 331
News media workers killed in Iraq– 152
Sorry. It is time to stop throwing my temper tantrum.
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it’s not a tantrum, this is very real. i hope your husband is never in harms way. hugs.
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They used to evacuate diplomats when a war started. The rules have changed in the last 3-4 years. (That is why there was the huge discussion about forced service–they have agreed to serve anywhere–but that was before serving in a war zone was part of the package.)
We realize that diplomats (and their families) are targeted and murdered or are victims of other crimes. We accept this risk. That happens in some countries and we try to be careful (alter our routes and times of activities in some countries) and hope that we are protected. We trust God that all will work out for us. But there is a difference to entering and living in a war zone.
We are moving to China, so we don’t need to worry for a few years. But the other diplomats… that I know or have heard of. Some are injured and many suffer from PTST and aren’t able to get decent treatment and then are unable to serve as effectively. If they ignore it–so they have a chance for promotion (because psychological illnesses will kill a career) they will have worse problems and make it hard for all their co-workers at other posts.
It is so complex. *sigh*
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my husband works with victims of PTSD (he’s a psychiatrist) so i know exactly what you mean–i’m glad you’ll be in china and hope for the best for you and your family and all diplomats around the globe.
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I would guess that the vast majority of people have no concept of these issues. Stuff is already bad enough on the surface but then when we dig a little deeper, we discover the effects of war and occupation run far and wide.
If only all this had been taken into account.
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Yes. To everything you said, Jackie.
As for the sites being censored, Sarah, that doesn’t surprise me at all. This administration hides all it can and it certainly doesn’t want the public knowing that diplomats, civilians, journalists, etc. are dying over there, too. I don’t blame you for feeling angered and panicked. Please know you’re always free to share your opinions here.
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A waste indeed. Almost 100,000 people, with hearts, minds, families. Gone. Not to mention the lives of people and animals that could have been saved or improved by spending the Iraq war money on things like providing health care to uninsured Americans and working on the environmental crisis, or, or…like a MILLION things that would be better to spend trillions of dollars on!
Boy, that’s depressing. Time to look at cute kitten pictures.
LikeLike
Yes, depressing. But I’m glad you posted that picture because it may persuade some Americans to vote in a way to end it.
I was on vacation in San Diego in March, 2003. Our hotel room overlooked San Diego Bay. We saw the aircraft carriers leaving San Diego enroute to Iraq. A sad, sad day.
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We put that sign in our yard in the fall of 2004 as a reminder to voters and we’ve kept it there as a reminder of the lies that brought us to this point and the lies they’d tell tell in an effort to lead the U.S. to invade Iran.
That must have been awful watching the aircraft carriers leave. Horrible. We were in San Francisco which was pretty intense as protesters shut down the city. I was glad to be there with so many people who felt the way I did but it was still incredibly difficult to face the day knowing what my government had done.
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Yes, depressing. But I’m glad you posted that picture because it may persuade some Americans to vote in a way to end it.
I was on vacation in San Diego in March, 2003. Our hotel room overlooked San Diego Bay. We saw the aircraft carriers leaving San Diego enroute to Iraq. A sad, sad day.
LikeLike
I agree. There are so many things that the money could have been spent on to improve American society and the lives of our people. Health care, schools, the environment, the infrastructure, the list is huge.
Can we add to the sign?
US diplomats killed in Iraq– 8, but I can’t see if the number went up.
Same percentage as those who serve in the military–yet the diplomats aren’t in combat (Hm. MANY sites are purged. Remember my earlier comments about the US and propaganda. Aha. Not good. They are hiding the real info from us. It looks like the info has been blacked out on different sites and is now “classified.”)
This one is personal to me because my husband could be forced to serve there and I know people who have been there. I understand the war on terror–I know people who have been injured in bombings and I’ve been taught signs to look for to minimize our chances of being a target.
WHY is this number purged from every location on the internet. The info was there 2 months ago. And of course the official number was less than the real number.
US civilians killed in Iraq– 331
News media workers killed in Iraq– 152
Sorry. It is time to stop throwing my temper tantrum.
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horrific
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Yes. And today Dick Cheney was on television saying he didn’t much care about public opinion regarding Iraq. The arrogance is mind-boggling.
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that’s awful. what a mess. thanks for posting
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It is awful and I wish it would all go away. Let’s go kiss our children.
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Yes. To everything you said, Jackie.
As for the sites being censored, Sarah, that doesn’t surprise me at all. This administration hides all it can and it certainly doesn’t want the public knowing that diplomats, civilians, journalists, etc. are dying over there, too. I don’t blame you for feeling angered and panicked. Please know you’re always free to share your opinions here.
LikeLike
We put that sign in our yard in the fall of 2004 as a reminder to voters and we’ve kept it there as a reminder of the lies that brought us to this point and the lies they’d tell tell in an effort to lead the U.S. to invade Iran.
That must have been awful watching the aircraft carriers leave. Horrible. We were in San Francisco which was pretty intense as protesters shut down the city. I was glad to be there with so many people who felt the way I did but it was still incredibly difficult to face the day knowing what my government had done.
LikeLike
No, you’re right. We need to see it, in our faces. After all, seeing those numbers is what got all those folks attending the caucus. So, way to go for putting the sadness out there instead of hiding it.
Still, wouldn’t it just be so much easier if we were all a bunch of ostriches? I think that’s what I’ll ask to be in my next life.
LikeLike
Or a crow. I’m having such fun watching them this spring. They definitely have carefree attitudes (at least from where I’m sitting).
We’re going to get through this and make the world a better place for our kids. We owe them that.
LikeLike
They used to evacuate diplomats when a war started. The rules have changed in the last 3-4 years. (That is why there was the huge discussion about forced service–they have agreed to serve anywhere–but that was before serving in a war zone was part of the package.)
We realize that diplomats (and their families) are targeted and murdered or are victims of other crimes. We accept this risk. That happens in some countries and we try to be careful (alter our routes and times of activities in some countries) and hope that we are protected. We trust God that all will work out for us. But there is a difference to entering and living in a war zone.
We are moving to China, so we don’t need to worry for a few years. But the other diplomats… that I know or have heard of. Some are injured and many suffer from PTST and aren’t able to get decent treatment and then are unable to serve as effectively. If they ignore it–so they have a chance for promotion (because psychological illnesses will kill a career) they will have worse problems and make it hard for all their co-workers at other posts.
It is so complex. *sigh*
LikeLike
I would guess that the vast majority of people have no concept of these issues. Stuff is already bad enough on the surface but then when we dig a little deeper, we discover the effects of war and occupation run far and wide.
If only all this had been taken into account.
LikeLike
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