How Do We End the Iraq War? (And Other Rhetorical Questions)

On May 1, 2003, President Bush declared "mission accomplished" in Iraq. Americans have short memories, and no balls. Most Americans don't even realize there are two American wars going on right now. How sad.

Okay, I'll admit that I supported the invasion of Iraq. At the time, I doubted the line of bull the government was telling us, but I supported the removal of Hussein for his past offences. Who cared if we were punishing him 15 years too late, or under false pretenses? But by 2003, it became clear that our declared mission was over. Even Bush said so. And yet, we're still there 5 years later.

If we even talk about leaving Iraq, Sean Hannity questions our patriotism, and says that we are giving aid and comfort to the enemy. So I have some questions:

1. How will we ever know when the mission is over, when it was declared over five years ago?

2. Who do we expect will "surrender" to U.S. forces? We're not fighting an army. We're fighting an ideology, and how do you ever defeat an ideology with an army?

3. If it's so important to be in Iraq to protect America, why don't we have the same commitment to protect America from off-shore drilling, oil dependency, nuclear energy, kids that can't read and write, and the Wall Street fat cats?

4. Russia invades Georgia for a few days, and the U.S. is outraged. And yet, we stick around in Iraq for 6+ years. What's the difference, other than we're America, so we can do whatever we want?

5. In the first presidential debate, Obama noted that he was a friend to the American veterans. McCain just smirked at that, claiming that he knew the veterans best, and that he would take care of his veteran friends.

Okay, veterans get free health care from the government, right? How many veterans are there? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 24.9 million veterans.

First, how does anyone "know" 25 million people?

Second, why is government health care good for 25 million veterans and not for the other 275 million Americans?? (Note: Of the 275 million, only 40 million are uninsured.)

6. In the first presidential debate, McCain smirked at Obama when Obama said that he would hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden and cross the Pakistani border if he had to... To that McCain said, "You don't say that [you'll cross a country's sovereign border]; you just do it."

First, since when do we think we have the right to cross the borders of other countries without their consent?

Second, since when do we have the right to kill anyone in cold blood without any kind of trial, even Bin Laden? Bin Laden may or may not be the most evil person in the world, but I have a real problem with the idea that we think we can just kill him, whether he's on the battlefield or not; apparently all the world is now a battlefield. That's scary.

I know it's a bit of a drag to leave comments, but if you have any thoughts or feedback, I'd love to read what you have to say.