The value of 3,000+ American lives

By now, some of you may have heard this story or come across this article. Just shocking.

To date, the war in Iraq has cost over 3,000 American lives and probably many, many more lives of Iraqi civilians. These numbers seem to grow by the hour, or at least as often as I get a chance to check cnn.com. Costs to taxpayers like me (before I quit my job) and you have totaled hundreds of billions of dollars. The Bush administration recently asked Congress for an additional $245 billion to cover the costs of the conflict through 2008.

For THIS?!

I ask - correction, I DARE anyone to please comment (anonymously if you wish) on what benefits all of this have yielded for us Americans, or for the world more broadly.

A safer country/world from terrorism? Questionable as to what the impact has been in the US (as compared to other Homeland Security measures). Terrorism continues to happen elsewhere in the world, and of course we read daily about insurgent attacks in Iraq.

A free and democratic Iraq? To state the average Iraqi is better off now than he or she was 4 years ago is debatable at best. As for democracy? Well, let's just say it's had better results here in the States than it has in Iraq. Apparently, a convicted Embassy bomber has been voted into Parliament - as part of the Prime Minister's Ruling Coalition no less. His seat in Parliament gives him immunity from prosecution. Of course I haven't even mentioned yet the fact that this guy has somehow evaded justice for 23+ years. Who exactly has been trying to capture him all this time???

Despite all this, the Bush administration and the Republican Congressional Minority is unwilling to even debate the merits of the war, or to consider alternative strategies for a lesser American role. They accuse anti-war activists of supporting a "cut and run" strategy. I accuse them of supporting a failed strategy, and of jeapordizing our troops and our taxpayers every single day.