This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper
-The Hallow Men, T.S. Eliot
The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, approached the barbed wire that separated Iraq from Kuwait at the Khabari Crossing in their armored "Stryker" vehicles in the early hours of August 18th, 3:49AM, give or take a few minutes. NBC/MSNBC correspondent Richard Engel, who covered the "war" since before the 2003 U.S. invasion by entrenching himself within the general population, at mush personal risk, rode along documenting the withdrawal of the last combat brigade leaving Iraq (Chuck Todd, the invariable buzz kill, kept insisting there was still several thousand combat troops in the country, dampening everyone's mood at MSNBC headquarters who were trying to report on an exclusive and major event), after more than seven years of military involvement. NBC anchor, Brian Williams asked Engel if this report constituted the “official Pentagon announcement,” of combat troop withdrawal, which the journalist affirmed. The President had promised all combat troops would be out of Iraq by the end of the month, and this was accomplished it seems, however the White House kept silent on that day.
"We won," the departing soldiers shouted. "It's over."
More than seven years of deadly combat and untold violence over. A million U.S. soldiers served in Iraq over those years. As of August 18th 4,420 of them died there, 316 members of the coalition also lost their lives. 31,926 troops have been wounded, 20% of which sustained serious brain or spinal injuries. 141 journalists have been killed, 14 by U.S. forces. 9,654 Iraqi police and soldiers have died. Reliable numbers on Iraqi civilians killed are difficult to determine, but according to the human rights group "Iraq Body Count," between 97,000 and 106,000 Iraqis have been killed since 2003, others estimate more than 600,000. More than 4 million, approximately 15 percent of the total population (equal to about 46 million people in the U.S. being forced to move out) have certainly been displaced, leaving the country as refugees. Thousands of Iraqi women and girls were widowed or orphaned by invasion casualties, others made head of households through divorce or abandonment and forced to flee Iraq. More than 50,000 Iraqi women and girls in Jordan and Syria have been forced into sexual slavery and servitude as a direct result of the U.S. invasion. The war has also cost the United States tax payers more than $749.9 billion and counting, $5,166 for each tax payer and counting (National Priorities Project). The military occupation and actions against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan (which has cost the U.S. tax payer another 329.1 billion so far) may have been successfully concluded by now if resources had not been diverted to Iraq in 2003, a huge incalculable indirect cost. The long-term cost of caring for the 1.5 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families is expected to exceed $700 billion if current troop strength is maintained, and an estimated $400 billion if a gradual withdrawal takes place, according to figures released recently by Harvard University economist Linda Bilmes. The cost in personal loss to families and dependents, friends and loved ones, of those injured or killed is undoubtedly enormous and will remain unknown.
$9 billion of US taxpayers' money cannot be accounted for, it's simply vanished (let me say that again, nine BILLION dollars of U.S. taxpayers money is GONE, no one knows where, and it seems no one cares. 9 billion bucks up in thin air. Tax payers giving money to the military is like me loaning money to my neighbor Lester. We're both guaranteed never to see it again), as well as $549.7 million in spare parts shipped to US contractors in 2004. Also, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles are missing. $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces are gone, not accounted for. $1.4 billion in over charges by Halliburton have been classified by the Pentagon as unreasonable and unsupported. $3.2 billion by KBR. Iraq suffers an unemployment rate of 27 to 60%, where a curfew is not in effect. Inflation in 2006 - 50%. Children suffering from chronic malnutrition - 28% in June 2007. Before the invasion Iraqi homes had electricity for 16 to 24 hours a day, currently they receive 1 to 2 hours, ofttimes appliances will explode or catch on fire due to electrical surges. The total infrastructure of the entire country has been greatly disrupted since the invasion and to this date not been restored, including sanitation and sewage treatment, access to drinkable water, and medical care.
"We won," the departing soldiers shouted. "It's over."
That same day, insurgents worried over the make of any future Iraqi government, carried on a relentless campaign of terror against Iraqi security forces and institutions, killing 5 government employees in roadside bombings, one day after 61 army recruits were killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad
"We won," the departing soldiers shouted. "It's over."
But what exactly did we win? And is it really over? What will happen when the U.S. finally pulls out?
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
To be continued
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper
-The Hallow Men, T.S. Eliot
The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, approached the barbed wire that separated Iraq from Kuwait at the Khabari Crossing in their armored "Stryker" vehicles in the early hours of August 18th, 3:49AM, give or take a few minutes. NBC/MSNBC correspondent Richard Engel, who covered the "war" since before the 2003 U.S. invasion by entrenching himself within the general population, at mush personal risk, rode along documenting the withdrawal of the last combat brigade leaving Iraq (Chuck Todd, the invariable buzz kill, kept insisting there was still several thousand combat troops in the country, dampening everyone's mood at MSNBC headquarters who were trying to report on an exclusive and major event), after more than seven years of military involvement. NBC anchor, Brian Williams asked Engel if this report constituted the “official Pentagon announcement,” of combat troop withdrawal, which the journalist affirmed. The President had promised all combat troops would be out of Iraq by the end of the month, and this was accomplished it seems, however the White House kept silent on that day.
"We won," the departing soldiers shouted. "It's over."
More than seven years of deadly combat and untold violence over. A million U.S. soldiers served in Iraq over those years. As of August 18th 4,420 of them died there, 316 members of the coalition also lost their lives. 31,926 troops have been wounded, 20% of which sustained serious brain or spinal injuries. 141 journalists have been killed, 14 by U.S. forces. 9,654 Iraqi police and soldiers have died. Reliable numbers on Iraqi civilians killed are difficult to determine, but according to the human rights group "Iraq Body Count," between 97,000 and 106,000 Iraqis have been killed since 2003, others estimate more than 600,000. More than 4 million, approximately 15 percent of the total population (equal to about 46 million people in the U.S. being forced to move out) have certainly been displaced, leaving the country as refugees. Thousands of Iraqi women and girls were widowed or orphaned by invasion casualties, others made head of households through divorce or abandonment and forced to flee Iraq. More than 50,000 Iraqi women and girls in Jordan and Syria have been forced into sexual slavery and servitude as a direct result of the U.S. invasion. The war has also cost the United States tax payers more than $749.9 billion and counting, $5,166 for each tax payer and counting (National Priorities Project). The military occupation and actions against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan (which has cost the U.S. tax payer another 329.1 billion so far) may have been successfully concluded by now if resources had not been diverted to Iraq in 2003, a huge incalculable indirect cost. The long-term cost of caring for the 1.5 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families is expected to exceed $700 billion if current troop strength is maintained, and an estimated $400 billion if a gradual withdrawal takes place, according to figures released recently by Harvard University economist Linda Bilmes. The cost in personal loss to families and dependents, friends and loved ones, of those injured or killed is undoubtedly enormous and will remain unknown.
$9 billion of US taxpayers' money cannot be accounted for, it's simply vanished (let me say that again, nine BILLION dollars of U.S. taxpayers money is GONE, no one knows where, and it seems no one cares. 9 billion bucks up in thin air. Tax payers giving money to the military is like me loaning money to my neighbor Lester. We're both guaranteed never to see it again), as well as $549.7 million in spare parts shipped to US contractors in 2004. Also, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles are missing. $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces are gone, not accounted for. $1.4 billion in over charges by Halliburton have been classified by the Pentagon as unreasonable and unsupported. $3.2 billion by KBR. Iraq suffers an unemployment rate of 27 to 60%, where a curfew is not in effect. Inflation in 2006 - 50%. Children suffering from chronic malnutrition - 28% in June 2007. Before the invasion Iraqi homes had electricity for 16 to 24 hours a day, currently they receive 1 to 2 hours, ofttimes appliances will explode or catch on fire due to electrical surges. The total infrastructure of the entire country has been greatly disrupted since the invasion and to this date not been restored, including sanitation and sewage treatment, access to drinkable water, and medical care.
"We won," the departing soldiers shouted. "It's over."
That same day, insurgents worried over the make of any future Iraqi government, carried on a relentless campaign of terror against Iraqi security forces and institutions, killing 5 government employees in roadside bombings, one day after 61 army recruits were killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad
"We won," the departing soldiers shouted. "It's over."
But what exactly did we win? And is it really over? What will happen when the U.S. finally pulls out?
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
To be continued
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