And I think it's clear the cost and body count has been lowballed.
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"This March marked the 15th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
In 2003, President George W. Bush and his advisers based their case for war on the idea that Saddam Hussein, then dictator of Iraq, possessed weapons of mass destruction — weapons that have never been found. Nevertheless, all these years later, Bush’s “Global War on Terror” continues — in Iraq and in many other countries.
It’s a good time to reflect on what this war — the longest in U.S. history — has cost Americans and others around the world.
First, the economic costs: According to estimates by the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the war on terror has cost Americans a staggering $5.6 trillion since 2001, when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan.
$5.6 trillion. This figure includes not just the Pentagon’s war fund, but also future obligations such as social services for an ever-growing number of post-9/11 veterans.
It’s hard for most of us to even begin to grasp such an enormous number."
Industrial military complex at its finest. Personally I'm a peacenik. I don't like the fact that veterans are so glorified. It's sad that humans take such delight in killing each other.
Veterans and Memorial Day should be used to dissuade people from killing for the state, not sanctioning it the way it seems to be treated.
@WilliamCharles it glorifies death. So sad. I hate the phrase - thank you for your service. What? No! I refuse to thank anyone for killing people.
Horrifying waste of lives and money.
And has made us no safer.
It served only to make warmongers richer, more powerful, and promoted the surveillance state.
It's frightening. All because Bush junior wanted fame. He attacked THE ONLY ARAB COUNTRY in the middle East that had NO jihadists, because Saddam Husein had total control of the mullahs.
It was with the intent to steal oil and enrich defense contractors and their stockholders.
Dick Cheney profited enormously from the rivers of blood he caused to be spilled and the suffering and death he engineered.
In that regard... Mission Accomplished!
[sigh]