Is the war over?

[sunfrog]

I just saw this on the BBC website. Is the war in Iraq over? No one told us. You'd think that sort of thing would be all over the news.

The last US combat brigade in Iraq has left the country.
The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division has crossed into Kuwait.
Its departure comes ahead of the planned end to the US combat mission on 31 August.

[PigsnieLite]

If the war is so over, why are there 50,000 US troops still stationed in Iraq at this moment? And why is the US hiring around 7000 contractors to be *security guards* for the bases the US is leaving behind? When wuz the last time the US ever completely left a country anyway? There are still troops In Japan and South Korea to this day, even though their wars are long over.

And of course, there is still Afghanistan, which is going so badly, it will just suck up all the US troops who used to be in Iraq.

[PigsnieLite]

AMERICA HAS GIVEN IRAQ ITS FREEDOMS! THE IRAQIS SHOULD BE HAPY NOW, RIGHT? RIGHT??
August 22, 2010
by Adil E. Shomo at AlterNet

Iraq has between 25 and 50 percent unemployment, a dysfunctional parliament, rampant disease, an epidemic of mental illness, and sprawling slums. The killing of innocent people has become part of daily life. What a havoc the United States has wreaked in Iraq.

N-HABITAT, an agency of the United Nations, recently published a 218-page report entitled State of the World’s Cities, 2010-2011. The report is full of statistics on the status of cities around the world and their demographics. It defines slum dwellers as those living in urban centers without one of the following: durable structures to protect them from climate, sufficient living area, sufficient access to water, access to sanitation facilities, and freedom from eviction.

Almost intentionally hidden in these statistics is one shocking fact about urban Iraqi populations. For the past few decades, prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the percentage of the urban population living in slums in Iraq hovered just below 20 percent. Today, that percentage has risen to 53 percent: 11 million of the 19 million total urban dwellers. In the past decade, most countries have made progress toward reducing slum dwellers. But Iraq has gone rapidly and dangerously in the opposite direction.

According to the U.S. Census of 2000, 80 percent of the 285 million people living in the United States are urban dwellers. Those living in slums are well below 5 percent. If we translate the Iraqi statistic into the U.S. context, 121 million people in the United States would be living in slums.

If the United States had an unemployment rate of 25-50 percent and 121 million people living in slums, riots would ensue, the military would take over, and democracy would evaporate. So why are people in the United States not concerned and saddened by the conditions in Iraq? Because most people in the United States do not know what happened in Iraq and what is happening there now. Our government, including the current administration, looks the other way and perpetuates the myth that life has improved in post-invasion Iraq. Our major news media reinforces this message.....

[sunfrog]

It can't be all wine and roses because there was just a war there. Everything is blown up and people are dead. Give Haliburton and other US contractors time to rebuild Iraq with shoddy workmanship and crappy unsalable parts and it will be good as new.

[PigsnieLite]

INDEED! HALLIBURTON! Just whut we need!

[Small Plant]

Happy 4th of July! Suck it Brits!
Just kidding. I love British people. ::Hugs all the British people in the world, even the ones that smell weird::

Are you sad because you lost America, or, are you angry because we turned out to be such a naughty nation? Do you want to spank us?

[PigsnieLite]

Hurmm .. I don't really notice 4th of July here except for the BBC news of fat Americuns waving flags & eating hot dogs. Did you haf a picnic?

[Small Plant]

Yes, we had sandwiches. Not cucumber cuz that's too British.