Special Blog:
The War in Iraq

As increasingly deadly attacks on American soldiers in Iraq turn temporary occupation into a continuing war, media critics have jumped to use catch-phrases, sensationalizing the conflict as a 'quagmire' or 'the next Vietnam'. This is not surprising, given the fact that all of the media bows down to the golden calf of profit - first and foremost is always money, after that truth can be added, so long as it does not cut into consumer-appeal. Clearly it is far too early to make such claims regarding the war, but it is undeniable that the situation merits serious consideration by every American citizen. Lets take a look at the situation from both sides:

Fact: A CIA report released November 16th states there to be "No evidence of any Iraqi effort to transfer weapons of mass destruction or weapons to terrorists." (story)

If America was to go into Iraq as part of a war on terror, wouldn't that logically necessitate some form of connection between Iraq and terrorists? Earlier claims by the Bush administration of Iraqi/al Qaeda ties turned out to be inaccurate. Coupled with this new CIA study, it seems there is no defensible argument placing the war in Iraq as part of the "war on terror."

Fact: Eight months after Hitler's fall, an American paper published the headline "How We Botched the German Occupation." (story)

Once again the unholy confederation of lies that we call the American media becomes the issue. How much of the pre-war hype was exaggerated or fabricated by the media? War is the most profitable venture for media, even more so given the almost cartoonish spectacle that was this Iraqi war. (war blogs, embedded journalists, live broadcasts of bombings, etc.) More pertinent is the media's treatment of the post-war situation. Is the U.S. really trapped in a losing 2nd Vietnam? There's no way to tell right now, but media sensationalizing may lead one to believe that the Fox News and CNN war chiefs are hoping for a second run at "Operation Iraqi Freedom," and the profits that come with it.

Fact: More U.S. soldiers have already died this year in Iraq than during the first three years of U.S. operations in Vietnam. (story)

Although statements equating the Vietnam war and the current Iraqi situation are overblown and premature, it is a simple and grim statistic that Iraq's 'liberation' has cost more American lives than 3 years of mismanaged war in Vietnam. Is this Iraqi conflict worth the lives of that many American soldiers? There isn't much that can be said about this statistic without delving into conjecture and assumption, so I leave it for your consideration.

Fact: Power and water have been restored to pre-war levels or better; most schools and universities have reopened; over 170 newspapers are in circulation; hospitals are functioning. (story)

America is doing a fairly commendable job in the infrastructural reconstruction of Iraq. Although political progress seems stalled for the moment, the Iraqi people are enjoying improved conditions. Whether or not the Iraqi people by and large support American occupation is debatable...it seems to have fallen into the realm of media bias, where the opinions of the Iraqi people seem to magically change with every new opinion column. It looks like only time will tell the mindset of the Iraqis.

Fact: Osama bin Laden is still alive. Al Qaeda is alive and well.

Al Qaeda has executed more terror attacks since 9/11 than they did beforehand. Many believe that the occupation of Iraq has done nothing but strengthen anti-U.S. sentiment in the Middle East and sent more new recruits to al Qaeda. Some may contend that al Qaeda has been hurt by U.S. attacks, but no one is claiming that al Qaeda is squirming under the wrath of U.S. military might, or that al Qaeda is even close to extinction. With all the money (estimates fall around 219.6 billion dollars) going towards this war on terror, shouldn't we have weakened al Qaeda considerably by now, or at least gotten rid of bin Laden? Critics say we've missed the mark completely, war proponents say we're well on our way...at this point it's hard to tell who is right.

Well there's the situation...we're all going to make up our own minds no matter what, so I'm not going to spin this one way or the other. You have the facts...to quote the veritable fount of truth and non-bias that is Bill O'Reilly, "I'll give you the last word."