I received this link from a friend mourning the loss of 4,000 US troops

[robertpaulsen]

THE ARCHITECTS OF WAR: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

President Bush has not fired any of the architects of the Iraq war. In fact, a review of the key planners of the conflict reveals that they have been rewarded — not blamed — for their incompetence.
PAUL WOLFOWITZ

Role In Going To War: Wolfowitz said the U.S. would be greeted as liberators, that Iraqi oil money would pay for the reconstruction, and that Gen. Eric Shinseki’s estimate that several hundred thousand troops would be needed was “wildly off the mark.”

Where He Is Now: Bush promoted Wolfowitz to head the World Bank in March 2005. Two years into his five-year term, Wolfowitz was rebuked by the World Bank investigative committee for engineering an unethical pay and promotion package for his girlfriend and, after repeated calls for his resignation, stepped down on May 17, 2007. Wolfowitz is now a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-wing think tank that “has the President’s ear” on national security issues.

Key Quote: “The truth is that for reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S. government bureaucracy, we settled on the one issue that everyone could agree on which was weapons of mass destruction as the core reason .”
DOUGLAS FEITH

Role In Going To War: As Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Feith spearheaded two secretive groups at the Pentagon — the Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans — that were instrumental in drawing up documents that explained the supposed ties between Saddam and al Qaeda. The groups were “created in order to find evidence of what Wolfowitz and his boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, believed to be true.” Colin Powell referred to Feith’s operation as the Gestapo. In Bob Woodward’s Plan of Attack, former CentCom Commander Gen. Tommy Franks called Feith the “f***ing stupidest guy on the face of the earth.”

Where He Is Now: Feith voluntarily resigned from the Defense Department shortly after Bush’s reelection. He is currently writing a memoir of his Pentagon work and teaching a course at Georgetown University “on the Bush Administration’s strategy behind the war on terrorism.” The Defense Department’s Inspector General found that Feith’s secretive groups at the Pentagon “developed, produced, and then disseminated” deceptive intelligence that contradicted “the consensus of the Intelligence Community.” These groups are still under investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Key Quote: “I am not asserting to you that I know that the answer is — we did it right. What I am saying is it’s an extremely complex judgment to know whether the course that we chose with its pros and cons was more sensible.”
WILLIAM LUTI

Role In Going To War: Luti worked under Douglas Feith, overseeing the Office of Special Plans, a Pentagon intelligence shop used to produce intelligence supporting the Bush administration’s claims about the threat represented by Saddam Hussein.

Where He Is Now: In May 2005, Luti was promoted to Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense Policy and Strategy for the National Security Council.

Key Quotes: A Pentagon official on Luti: “It’s very difficult to inform people who already know it all.”;”Basically, he didn’t like other people’s information if it didn’t agree with his opinion,” a former DIA analyst agreed.

more...

http://thinkprogress.org/the-architects-where-are-they-now/

In addition to this link, my friend Barry wrote a very eloquent letter to me that expresses my feelings perfectly:



Another Irag War Milestone

It's official. 4,000 American soldiers have now lost their lives in Iraq.

Remember that each one of these soldiers was someone's child. Raised with love and care by their mothers and fathers, who are now devastated for the rest of their lives, along with their brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, wives, husbands, friends, and colleagues. They are not "just a number", as stated by a press secretary for the Bush Administration.

For old times sake, let's review:

The reason the Bush Administration started the Iraq War was:

Saddam had nuclear & biological weapons.
Proven to be UNTRUE.

They then changed the reason to: Saddam was involved in 9/11.
Proven to be UNTRUE.

They then changed the reason to: al-Queda was operating in Iraq.
Proven to be UNTRUE.

They then changed the reason to: Saddam was mean to some of his people.
TRUE, but who gives a shit?

MANY leaders are mean to their people (Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Cuba, Burma, many Central American countries, many South American countries, many African countries, some Asian countries, and some Eastern European countries).

And you can include George Bush and Dick Cheney, who ignored the plight of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, who do nothing about our health care crisis, who do nothing about the gouging of American citizens by the energy companies, who trashed our environmental regulations allowing corporations to once again pollute our air, water, and land, who wrecked our budget surplus, who ignore the problems regarding the health and education of our children, who allow American corporations to give our jobs away to people overseas and illegal immigrants here, and on and on.

Was it really worth the lives of 4,000 (so far) treasured American souls to remove ONE person from office?

Is it worth the $600 billion (so far) they've spent? Just imagine how many AMERICANS that money could have helped. How many schools, clinics, and homes for the homeless could have been built. How many food banks could have been stocked. How many uninsured people could have gotten proper medical care.

Iraq is now one of the most dangerous places on the planet. It wasn't before the invasion. Iraq is now one of the most unstable countries on the planet. It wasn't before the invasion. Iraq is now a safe haven for Al-Queda and other terrorists. It wasn't before the invasion.

And where are the other cheerleaders, planners, and operators of the Iraq War -- Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, George Tenet, David Bremmer, etc?

Oh, they've all "cut & run", and are now off enjoying the bounty of American life. http://thinkprogress.org/the-architects-where-are-they-now/

4,000 of our soldiers will NEVER be able to do that.

For anyone who supports the Iraq War, the Bush Administration, and the deaths of 4,000 American soldiers, you should go live in a country that shares your attitude, and the philosophies of the Bush Administration, like Russia, China, North Korea, Iran...

I'll even give you a ride to the airport.

~Barry~

[DesertRat]

1. K&R