$35,000 CAB RIDE?

Sheesh! And I thought NYC was expensive! Though the ride from central Baghdad to the airport is only 6 miles long, it's so riddled with fatal booby traps that Iraqi cabbies can charge that much for the short trip, CNN recently reported. Wow. That's how safe "coalition" forces have made Iraq. American troops and Iraqis are still dying left and right, and recent findings by a presidential commission show the reason that they are there is "dead wrong." I guess with God on his side, the president need not take into account his own fucking commission's findings!

I grew up in the 70's, where a stock character on TV and film was the disgruntled Vietnam vet. Typically, the disillusioned, war-scarred vet has snapped, and is discovered to be the perpetrator of some hideous crime. Was no one else watching these shows? Did it not register with any of today's soldiers or their parents? The idea that bravely defending your country and watching your friends die by your side and enduring great trauma or torture can unhinge you, especially when you return home and the mood of the country is that much of the fight has been fought in vain? That Jane Fonda the activist, in hindsight--no matter how much you still spit on her--WAS RIGHT? Wouldn't that make you question the your involvement in the military? The government's motives for war? Is it honorable to lay down the only life you've got to defend a lie? Or is it foolish and amoral? (And before you sqawk "I know Bunny, with her x-rated act, ain't gonna preach morals!" Well, my dear, x-rated never killed anybody.")

Though a confirmed peacenik, I was actually grateful for our armed forces during the anthrax scare after 9/11. I appreciated that there was someone there not only to restore order to Manhattan should spores be released on subways, but also to find and combat whichever overseas villain was unleashing them. (Of course, then we realized that the spores were coming from within the US....government?) But these kids have been tricked. And the trick is wearing off. That's why the army recruitments are down. That's why we're hearing rumors of the draft floating around. And we're breeding a whole new generation of deeply disillusioned vets. Great fodder for script-writers, not so great for those who lose lives, limbs or their
sanity.

I've read about horrified parents who encouraged their kids to enlist to give them backbone or help pay for college. They never imagined that we'd go to war. Well, we did. Maybe those concerned parents should familiarize what themselves with what a republican hawk really is, before signing their flesh and blood up to die. And besides, though it may offer help with tuition and benefits to those with few options, an army, in war-time, is a killing machine. Live by the sword.. I'm told that college tuition costs an arm and a leg now, but really!

Kerry was slammed as disrespectful of our troops to question the war in Iraq. But what's more disrepectful towards them? QUESTIONING the reason for them being there or SENDING THEM TO DIE UNNECESSARILY, as Bush and his posse have done? Bush, YOU--I know he reads my blog regularly--are responsible for these soldiers' deaths and I hereby charge you for their MURDER. And the MURDER of all the Iraqis. How conveniently you forget your precious Bible's THOU SHALT NOT KILL when there's a little oil at stake.

And the spin runs rampant. How many weeks did we view non-stop tsunami footage on the news--2-3 whole weeks? 200,000 were lost by the tsunamis, but at the same time the death toll of Iraqi civilians, not soldiers, CIVILIANS, reached over 100,000. I wonder why we never saw these images of great loss in Iraq? Because they're Iraqi, they don't matter? Or because the government wants to spin the war into something less devastating than it is? The government has basically forbidden broadcasters to show any images of wounded or killed American soldiers, much to the displeasure of the families of the deceased, who want to honor their sacrifices. But caskets draped with flags might force us to acknowledge the huge death toll and question the validity of the war. THOSE images are real "reality tv"--not shoving worms in your stupid mouth or Paris Hilton in a pigsty--and they will not be televised. What you'll see instead are rosy images of Bush declaring the war is over (years ago) and flying over for Thanksgiving to give them a turkey. (He gave 'em a turkey, alright.) I think that's called propaganda. Too bad we call it news in this country.

On the day Lynndie England was in court answering charges of Iraqi prisoner abuse (the spelling of her name alone is enough of a crime and wait a minute--aren't torture and mass murder the reason we deposed Saddam?), CNN ran a story of a one soldier whose foot was blown off in Iraq. He was offered an honorable discharge, but he stayed on the front after receiving a prosthetic foot. Hello? Didn't you get the "dead wrong" memo? Earth to soldier! Didn't you do the math--2 feet minus 1 foot =1 foot? What part of "YOUR FUCKING FOOT HAS BEEN BLOWN OFF" didn't you understand? And you want more? Why? What sort of brainwashing technique is in place to make you continue this madness? This cheery bit of CNN propaganda ended with the guy's plans to set up a care center for future prosthetic limb-wearing vets. Wouldn't it be nobler to speak out against the war and help stop creating prosthetic limb-wearers of every nationality?

And isn't the truth that this soldier, happy to struggle on with one foot, is the exception? That army recruits are way down? That the existing troops are disgruntled, war-torn and stretched way too thin in a land of $35,000 six-mile cab rides--with no end to the war in sight? A young black college student profiled on CNN--I know, I watch too much--has a new extracurricular activity. She sets up shop on her campus with a bullhorn, trying to warn students against army recruiters who downplay the risks involved in signing up. She said she'd devote as much time as she could between her studies to shouting the recruiters down. Right on, sister-girl! I wish more Americans had your style of patriotism and outrage. If they did, there might be a lot less trusting American soldiers who died senselessly. And before you cry "You aren't supporting out troops who give their lives for you!" please understand, the troops' lives are EXACTLY what I'm supporting. I'm denouncing the policies which put them in harm's way for the wrong reasons. Uh, and did I mention we have no exit strategy in Iraq?