From the web site www.m-w.com I offer the following definition for freedom;

Main Entry: free·dom
Pronunciation: 'frE-d&m
Function: noun
1 : the quality or state of being free: as a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : INDEPENDENCE c : the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous <freedom from care> d : EASE, FACILITY <spoke the language with freedom> e : the quality of being frank, open, or outspoken <answered with freedom> f : improper familiarity g : boldness of conception or execution h : unrestricted use <gave him the freedom of their home>

The people of America achieved freedom or independence from England in 1776. Since that time the fourth of July has served as the milestone for this great event. Celebrations include BBQ’s, fireworks, or a day off from work just spent relaxing. George W. Bush is at his home in Kennebunkport, Maine relaxing with his family and enjoying life as if there is no war that he began on the other side of our world.

When George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq in 2003 he gave the people of America and the world no fewer than three reasons for doing so. The first was to retaliate for 9/11. We all know that Iraq was not behind 9/11. Then Bush offered the excuse for going to war was to collect the weapons of mass destruction that Bush was certain the Iraqi government had been hiding from the weapons inspectors. This too was proven to be false, erroneous, and misleading. Lastly, Bush said he wanted to spread freedom to the people of Iraq by ridding them of their evil dictator, Saddam Hussein. Bush has freed the people of Iraq from Saddam, but what comes next?

The people of America and the world have spoken loud and clear. Their collective voices are for change, especially change in the direction that this war with Iraq has taken since President Bush proclaimed “Mission Accomplished”. Obviously either President Bush was premature in this proclamation or he never intended to merely free the people of Iraq from Saddam. Bush intends to remain in Iraq country for decades to come. By either account he has been dishonest with congress, the people of America, the people of Iraq and the world. President Bush and his entire administration should to be held accountable for these acts and misstatements.

At what cost do we tell the people of America and the world that we are creating freedom for the people of Iraq? How many more deaths will surely transpire before we call it a day and end this conflict that by most educated accounts cannot be won by military mite, but should be effectuated via diplomacy?

Hillary Clinton so aptly said, “Our troops have done their job in Iraq. Now bring them home!”  Furthermore, Mrs. Clinton (D-NY) said that if President Bush fails to bring our troops home before his presidency ends she, as president, will bring them home and use diplomatic measures to bring closure to the insurgency in Iraq and the upheaval in that region.

In round figures the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost of this war with Iraq is about $9 Billion dollars per month. $13 Billion dollars was the initial cost of deploying our troops into the Persian Gulf and will tally out somewhere between $5 to $7 Billion dollars to bring them home.

There are varying accounts of US and Iraqi casualties. The web site www.antiwar.com uses the figure of 3,584 US deaths in the war thus far and a total number of wounded at 26,350 with estimates on the Iraqi side at somewhere between 23,000 and 100,000 as of 7/2/07 10:59 pm CST. As of October of 2005 the web site www.globalsecurity.org tallies the US dead at 3,627 and US wounded at 25,950.

The exact number of Iraqi civilian deaths since America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 is perhaps best estimated by a group of scientists from John Hopkin’s University Bloomberg School of Public Health taken published back in October of 2006. Their calculations taken by surveying random samplings of government and non-government officials on the ground in Iraq tallied at 655,000 on that date back in October of 2006. According to John Hopkin’s research that is nearly 500 deaths per day largely due to the worsening violence. These computations are more than 20 times the 30,000 anticipated casualties that President Bush offered up in his speech back in December of 2006.

When do we say enough is enough? At what point is it more prudent to cut your losses and bring our troops out of harms way instead of tossing more good money after bad and losing more lives on all sides of this war? I say we have reached that point and past it. The time to act is NOW. Please call or write your local and state congress people to tell them that we need to defund this ill-fated war with Iraq and bring our troops home!

www.washingtonpost.com, article by David Brown from October 11, 2006, Study claims Iraq’s excess death toll has reached 655,000

www.antiwar.com

www.globalsecurity.org

www.m-w.com

http://usgovinfo.about.com

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