Iraq War - 7 years and counting. Recollections and open thread

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO2RujOK43I

I was also in high school when it came out. Has a totally different impact on me now though. Oh how I have changed, but the war machine hasn't.

..... I was 8! I remember the song, but it didn't make sense because 19 seemed pretty old to me at the time.

These young people think they're dying for America. These wars are not in the interest of the vast majority of Americans.
To die for a lie is to die in vain. Sometimes I want to grab them, shake them, and tell them not to die for the elites who have nothing but contempt for them.

I mixed Ron Paul's Words Into 19 in 2007.. WATCH THIS...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a822mPM0msg

...and cry.

but somehow I can't help but think it is all by the design of a very few, for a very few...I spent 8 years in, 6 of those were during the Iraq and Afghan "Wars", I escaped all of the worst, I seen nothing and emerged unscathed and of sound mind....I feel bad for the kids over there...some are not as lucky as I was.....

This seems to be the magic number for Americans to be "Fed Up!" with war (counting non theater (battle) deaths).

It matters not to (many) Americans it seems to me as to how many die on the other side. Heard any news stories from the MSM lately? Besides that about the Oscar winner for Best Picture?
----
A little more than 50,000 Americans died in the undeclared Korean war. Total dead: 2.8 million

A little more than 50,000 Americans died in the undeclared Vietnam war. Total dead: 3.5 million (entire conflict including Cambodia and Laos)

About 5,400 Americans have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan War.

Maybe the fact that it was an "Iraqi Freedom" war makes it look like we're liberating the Iraqis rather than fighting communism. Naturally, once our troops finally leave Iraq (except for those to keep tabs on things ala South Korea), the Iraqi's will feel free to do as they wish in their new democracy right?

Riddle me this...has there ever been a war in the U.S. that ended during the tenure of a Democrat President?

I remember that song Michael... Are the troops coming home today receiving a "hero's welcome" fighting the wars our government doesn't declare? What would happen if our troops "just said no" to undeclared wars? They wouldn't be breaking the law of the land if they did.

I really don't care what the extent of your activities are tomorrow, but don't roll over and do nothing. I'll likely drive out of town to meet some old friends and get the gang back together so to speak. We have lost touch with each other and thus we have no support system. The occupation and the election have added additional lag on our endeavors toward peace. This is the moment where we turn the tide. Be a part of it, be a part of something.

Here is a good place to start...
with the Truth!

This is an article that looks at the specific nature of capitalism’s way of war, its origins and briefly compares it with other social systems. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are just the beginning of a new aggressive, militarist phase of imperialism, which can only be halted by the mobilised resistance of the peoples of the world, in particular the working classes in the imperialist centres themselves.

The emergence of modern capitalism shows that the forces of production have outgrown both private property and the nation state. Both are now reactionary and artificially maintained by the exploitation of neo-colonies and the development of an imperialist globalisation at the heart of which is the US hegemony.

Humanity must either strike out towards socialism, or for years ahead, witness escalating armed conflict and atrocities.

www.isg-fi.org.uk/spip.php?article10

it would only last 6 months - at the most!!!

marching against the war(before the war started)I was in three different cities three different countries Bern Switzerland population 130,000 and we had 10,000 people show up in Warsaw Poland 15,000 people came in Rome Italy over 1 million came to protest the upcoming war.

Thank you for posting this Michael.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.iraqwarheroes...

He went to war for a lie.
He lay down his life for a lie.
He lived such a short time, and now he is dead forever.
Truth matters. It will never bring Tristan back, but it will stop young men like him from dying for the same lie. At least make them come up with a new one.

Truth liberates. Truth is what will bring peace. Not just 9-11 truth, but the very word, the notion, the reality of TRUTH. No more religious mumbo jumbo, no more confusing belief with fact, no more pretending truth is flexible (opinions, beliefs, much of life is flexible, but FACTS remain constant or they are not facts.)

I hope you are resting in peace, Tristan. The nation you invaded is still a war torn mess.