Destroying a nation and its people: Mission Accomplished

I'd love to hear what the anti-abortion/pro-war crowd thinks about this. Heckofa job, W!

These miserable "right-to-lifers" How psychologically damaged will the youngsters be affected for the rest of their lives?

Thanks for the story Al-Qaeda Broadcasting Company. I guess none of this behavior existed before the US was involved. Why doesn't this miserable news channel just skip the middle man and print the news in Arabic so the terrorists can read it easier! ABC SUCKS A LOT!

Good thing we removed Saddam so these people can be free... What a joke, we brought a miserable bunch of people even more misery. Congress should pass a law that the USA can't get involved in any foriegn conflicts for minimum 50 years.

Rape, theft, drug addiction and abortion. Fleeing the cities for the saftey of the burbs...And they said an American style democracy would never take hold in Iraq. How many violent deaths do we have in America each year? Well Iraq has to pick up the pace there if they want to compete with us.

How many people have fled our inner cities to avoid the "blood shed"?

this just sickens me to read about. W wasn't happy enough that he screwed up this nation he had to go and screw with someone else's too

It just like Vietnam. We killed them to save them from Communism, and we kill these people to save them from themselves.

Destroying a nation and its people: The largest WAR CRIME yet of the 21st Century. What we did to Iraq is a crime against humanity. Do your homework, under Saddam, rule was tight and he was a dictator, but people had basic human services, such as electricity, water, and healthcare. We destroyed their social fabric, caused a CIVIL WAR, and it will never be forgoten.

Jerome perhaps you should do a little history study. France was in Vietnam long before we were. Why did Kennedy drag us into Vietnam? That is a good question. Was it to fight communisim? Did Communism have a very real face in 1960's? beyond what we can understand in our catch phase K.I.S.S. blogosphere.
Were the Nukes of the coast of Florida?

George Bush is a terrorist. The worst of the worst.

The Americanization of Iraq continues under the direction of the Neo-Cons.

For all the idiots that believe the death and destruction of an entire nation in Iraq, step back and really watch the news coming from the Middle East. the violence is only in the capital and a couple regions surrounding it. This country is quite large. There are a lot of people whose quality of life is very much improved, mainly areas where poverty was rampant during Sadaam years but this positive image will never make news headlines like a bomb blast killing several innocent people. Lots of people like to criticize this country and its leadership but enjoy the comfort of our freedom. Put an American Flag on your sleeve and make a contribution to your protected right and then I may listen.

Now we know how little a History BA is worth from Yale University. George W learned absolutely nothing during his four years at that fine institution!

There's no excuse for abortion, not to minimize the plight of these women. It's sad to see them adopt some of our values that lead to bondage, not freedom.

usarocks: Check the facts before you shoot of your mouth. Fact 1: before 1993 every person in Iraq had housing, jobs and medical care. Fact 2: The coalition has failed to repair even one fourth of the damage caused by this illegal war. Put down the booze, clear your head and cry God help the innocent claude

THE DISASTER IN IRAQ-NAM JUST GETS WORSE BY THE DAY.

How terrific! Under Hussein, medical care was available and accessible to all. Women went to universities and obtained post-graduate degrees. Tthey could vote. They could dress any way they wanted.

Now that Bush has "liberated" the Iraqis, women are so afraid of bringing new lives into the world that they resort to abortions.

Heckuva job, Bush! This is another disaster to check next to your name!

The Lancet/Johns Hopkins University study, going door to door throughout Iraq and seeing death certificates for 92% of the reported deaths, estimated an increased death toll due to the invasion for March 2003 to July 2006 to be 655,000. The British Defense Ministry said their methodology was sound and robust.
Every reason given for the war was a known lie when it was given. The Downing Street Memo is obviously true. Who forged the Niger Documents? Iraq and Iran had nothing to do with 9/11. Saddam was the enemy of al Qaeda. Iraq has #2 oil reserves and Iran has #3.

There is much to learn if we open our minds often and close our mouths every once in a while. None of us has all the answers. Each of us must dedicate ourselves to upholding the Constitution. Along the way, we will become more enlightened and may even decide that the track we were on needs some adjusting. Our citizens must -- regardless of the circumstances -- be lights to the world. The ends do not justify the means. Period.

"Thanks for the story Al-Qaeda Broadcasting Company. I guess none of this behavior existed before the US was involved."

You're right. It didn't.

"There's no excuse for abortion, not to minimize the plight of these women. It's sad to see them adopt some of our values that lead to bondage, not freedom."

Spend 24 hours living the lives these women are forced to live, and then maybe you might have the right to make such a spectacularly stupid remark. Only you probably wouldn't then, because you might have an inkling of what you were talking about.

"Destroying a nation and its people: Mission Accomplished" by the liberals, the pacifists, the Democrats, and the news media - a bunch of sick hypocrites.

I hate to even rattle his cage, but Jake struck a nerve.

How about a little truth about the way things really were in Viet Nam. I served in the USAF from 1964-1968. To start out it wasn't JFK's or LBJ's or even Tricky Dickie's war. After WWII, the people of Viet Nam who had fought the Japanese thought the should rule themselves. France disagreed with this idea so "the people" joined under Ho Chi Minh and successfully revolted against the French. After kicking the French's collective asses at Dien Bien Phu, the French left the country. In 1954 there was a peace conference, the Geneva Accord, which divided Viet Nam at the 17th parallel. The conference also called for an election in 1956 to reunify Viet Nam under one elected government.

South Viet Nam was ruled by Diem who was a loose cannon puppet of the US. Diem knew that in a national election Ho would win so he under US auspices refused to allow the election. Thus started the war. So in reality the war was actually started by Ike and his CIA. Ho, a commie, was a national hero and a shoo in to win the election. There existed at the time a foreign policy theory that stated that if Viet Nam turned communist the rest of South East Asia would fall like dominoes. At first we propped up Diem with supplies and training. By the time JFK came along we were heavily involved since we in effect called off the election guaranteed by the Geneva Accord.

There were other facts that seem to have faded in time. The country was Buddist in the North and Catholic in the South. In the South you had 95% of the land and wealth controlled by 2% of the population. In the North you had agrarian reform which divided the land up amongst the people. Here in the US we are so afraid that one day the US citizen will realize that all the gravy is going to the upper 2% and decide to react much like we did in 1776 and throw the ruling class out and nationalize THEIR wealth that they've accrued from the population's labor.

It hasn't worked in many places, but Modern Viet Nam came out of the war as a whole nation unlike the US. In Cuba, for all of it's commie crap has a better health system than we do... and it's free. And my favorite is Hugo Chavez. He is loved by 80% of his countrymen. So loved that when a US backed coupe captured him, the streets filled with the poor 80% of the country Why? He took back the country's national resources from the corporate pirates and gave it back to the people in education and health care.

There are no answers in this, but as one who lived through it I felt that someone needed to inform all of you as to why we ended up in our previous quagmire.

I wonder how many of the women are getting abortions because they have been raped?

I just thank God I never voted for Bush and don't have to carry the daily guilt for the ramifications of his horrendous policy blunder.

"Moreover, the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those who are making peace."-James 3:18

NOT the seed of righteousness is sown under WARFUL conditions for those who are making Peace.

Hypocrites!

Amazing how the evangelicals and their False Leader (Bush)support war and troops.

Hypocrites!

As Jesus said best,
"LET them be. Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”-Matthew 15:14

Ironic that the Right-to-Life crowd and the neocons enjoy such a cozy, co-dependent relationship and yet pursue policies which have such sad unintended consequences. Gog help our currently benighted nation.

To Old Hippy...

You're right on! I always thought our fear of communism was a bit too neurotic and thus our support of petty dictators around the globe.

Gee, all the doom and gloom. What we gave them was the chance to be free. What they chose instead was to attack each other like the animals they are. Stop blaming America. People are given choices, what the make of them are their responsibility. You Politically correct are just so far out of touch it’s disturbing.

Drug abuse and abortion. Geeze that is the American way. Fleeing from the inter-city? Again the American way. See everyone....We Americanized these folks rather well. The American dream can be yours in down town Baghdad.

Hillary is going to import several thousand of the Iraqs to improve her political standings. That's the American way too! See Hillary, you did vote in the right direction for this war.

Maybe we should start having abstinence only classes over there -- those totally prevent abortions. We should have thought of that sooner.

Also, should we be counting the number of abortions in the number of civilian deaths? Yikes, we're probably approaching a million civilians killed at this point then.

ABC news just sucks!

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A sampling of the smashed lives in this city's first shelter for battered women shows just how much work its founder, Yanar Mohamed, has before her.

There is Susan, whose new husband began to beat her after discovering that she had been raped as a teenager. He held their new baby to her breast for feedings, because she was not allowed to touch the infant. She now lives in the shelter with the child.

Rana, a 16-year-old who had been abused for years by her father, escaped from her home soon after he beat her sister so badly that she died.

The women are blamed for the very abuse they suffer, accused of bringing dishonor on their families. In a punishing and rigid Islamic tradition, some would be killed if their relatives found them.

Since the American invasion and the virtual collapse of the Iraqi state, Islamic militancy has grown. Hard-line Islamists dominate several cities just north and west of Baghdad. Liquor stores have been bombed, and more women are covering their heads in public.

At the same time, women's groups have mushroomed. Hanaa Edwar, secretary of Iraqi al-Amal, which provides health care to poor women, estimates that there are a few hundred women's groups across Iraq now, compared to just a few dozen before the war.

"Imagine being married by force and having five children with a man you despise," said Ms. Mohamed, 43, who on a recent day was wearing jeans, platform sandals and a red T-shirt. "It cannot happen again. But if you look at the streets now, the politics, it is happening."

Women began losing those gains in the 1980's, when years of war sapped economic resources, plunging the country into poverty and eroding women's independence. To appease religious leaders in Iraq and his Arab neighbors, Mr. Hussein forced a stricter adherence to conservative religious rules.

Rana, the 16-year-old, is from a conservative southern city. She was taken out of school after the fourth grade. She was not allowed to leave the house, or watch television. After her sister died and she fled, a woman from the American military saved her, she said, allowing her to stay on a military base temporarily.

Her family tracked her down, through a local Iraqi translator at the base, and showed up one day to take her back. The family signed an agreement saying they would not beat her, but she said it had no effect. Relatives placed hot coals on her head to cure her of her running away, which they perceived as a mental illness, Rana said.

You're out of touch, Andy. Over 650,000 Iraqis have died since we invaded their country on false premises. While you have no concern for the welfare of these "animals", rest assured that among the dead are borthers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. But, again, what do you care?

If a TV channel reports about the horrible effect of Bush's war then all right wingers scream:
They are enemies of the state, they support Al Qaeda.
Nonetheless they support a war based on lies which destroys our country.

Right wingers = the real Al Qaeda members

John, First you have been reading too many left wing rags. You can not substantiate the 650,000 number because it’s a lie. Second. The majority of deaths are due to sectarian violence and Al Qaeda not from American troops. If the after the soldiers liberated America from the British we began killing each other, who would blame?, the liberators or the idiots killing each other. Stop your politically correct nonsense.

P.S. the average death toll in Iraq from sectarian violence and suicide bombers has been about 3,000 a month. We have been there four years , 48 months * 3000 = 144,000.

John, First you have been reading too many left wing rags. You can not substantiate the 650,000 number because it’s a lie. Second. The majority of deaths are due to sectarian violence and Al Qaeda not from American troops. If the after the soldiers liberated America from the British we began killing each other, who would blame?, the liberators or the idiots killing each other. Stop your politically correct nonsense.

P.S. the average death toll in Iraq from sectarian violence and suicide bombers has been about 3,000 a month. We have been there four years , 48 months * 3000 = 144,000.

Must be interesting to the religious right and the right-wing republicans that their advocacy and support of the war on Iraq has spawned everything they claim they are against. Wonder what it feels like to be completely responsible for all the ills that currently plague the Iraqi people. Thank you George Bush, your syncophant republican congressional members, and all your hateful and ignorant followers. What would Jesus do? Hmmmm.

Does anybody remember Bush claiming to be a "wartime" president, even before the invasion of Iraq? I do. One good thing of late is that Bush vetoed the stem cell funding bill, again. It's a relief to know that no one in the near future will be cloning another flat fore-headed GW. Bush or his Christian Extremist allies at taxpayer expense.

Andy, try reading my post above. The Lancet, Johns Hopkins Univ., and some Baghdad universities did an excellent study which the British Defense Ministry (our Coalition partner) called "sound and robust" methodology. Nt "left wing rags". What makes Andy know better than them? The figure of 655,000 only goes up to July 2006. It does not cover deaths due to destruction of clean water and healthcare facilities and supplies. Only one in eight Iraqi children live to the age of five today. Why is it perfectly all right with Andy if only 144,000 humans have been butchered due to our illegal and counter-productive war. Our sixteen intelligence agencies say the war has made us LESS safe. Saddam was strongly suppressing the fundamentalist Islamists. Now the entire country is opened up to them.

Keith, I never said the deaths of 144,000 Iraq's was OK. What I said is stop blaming America for Muslims killing Muslims. They have been doing this for centuries. Perhaps they were better off under Saddam he knew how to control these animals, yes I said animals. As far as you referring me to a study by a politically correct secular progressive left wing college, written by some professors who never worked a real job in their pathetic lives, whose being naive. What we gave them was the chance to be free. What they chose instead was to attack each other like the animals they are. Stop blaming America. People are given choices in this life, what the make of them are their responsibility. You Politically correct are just so far out of touch it’s disturbing. In your world no one is responsible for their own actions, everyone else is.

So, if their job is public health research at one of the best universities in the world, then they are pathetic and don't know what they are talking about? Look up "Projection" in a mental health textbook. Want to talk responsibility? Republicans armed Iraq, Iran, the Taliban, Mujahadin, bin Laden, al Qaeda, Pakistan, and now the Iraqi insurgents. Ollie North called it a "neat idea" and Regean said he could not recall.

Why was every reason for the illegal invasion and occupation a lie? Because the reason was we wanted to control the oil-rich area. The locals do not like it. Would you?

Not only is it incredibly stupid to say that they cannot be any good at counting deaths if they are "secular"---but you do not have the slightest idea if they are secular or not! I repeat for the third time: The British Ministry of Defense said their methodology was "sound and robust", the figure of 655,000 only goes up to July 2006 and does not include the one in eight Iraqi children who die before the age of five. They saw a death certificate in 95% of the deaths they recorded.

When three million died in the Vietnam War, was that all Buddhists killing Buddhists and nothing to do with the USA?!?

When millions of Native Americans died, was that nothing to do with the USA? When there were a million casualties during our Civil War was that just Christian animals killing other Christian animals? When we killed 400,000 Filipinos at the end of the Spanish-American War, was that nothing to do with the USA. When Reagan's funding of right-wing Christian death squads in Latin America resulted in the deaths of nearly one million Christian civilians, was that nothing to do with the USA?

When Christians killed about 50 million Christians during WWI and WWII, were they ANIMALS?

We have ruined Iraq. Iraqi freedom? I think not.

After so many years of making war, it is to be expected that most people in the world consider Bush a war criminal;
to be sure: a Christian war criminal, but a criminal just the same.

New study: worst failed state in the world is Sudan. Second-worst is Iraq.

Rob, if I've *already* worn an American flag on my sleeve and have *already* made a "contribution to your protected right," then will you listen to what I have to say?

Or will you only listen if I don't "criticize this country and its leadership?"

To Old Hippie,
Thanks for telling it like it was. The Repugnicans used to sneak around in the dark and get us involved in wars and then blame the Dems. Now they just lie upfront and go to war and accuse anyone who is against war that they are unpatriotic.

AP headline today is:

"U.S. officials say Iraq gripped by fear"

This dweeb of a "President" has unloaded a whole shirtpile on Iraq AND the U.S.

God PLEASE save us from GW Bush! AMEN!!

The invasion of Iraq was a criminal act. the occupation is a tragedy.

All those Bush Bashers that pretend Iraq was a utopian society before this war forget that SAddam attacked four countries (Iran, Kuwait, Saudi ARabia and Israel) Murdered, tortured and raped his own citizens and gave all the power to the minority Sunnis and used Chemical and biological weapons on his own citizens (Shiites and Kurds) so let's not get carried away in believing the past was much better. Besides 90% of the Iraqi deaths are at the hands of Iraqis and foreign arabs and not the US.

This comes on the heels of recent reports of progress and improved conditions across Iraq. Of course, This article can't be expected to provide a balanced report - it is meant to induce anger at the U.S. by suggesting the USA is the basis for all of the woes experienced in Iraq. The IRC report also includes many instances of progress, improvement and services that were not available before - but that would take away from the purpose of this article.
Globally, drug use, abortions and crime are rampant - is the USA to blame for all that as well?
I'm sure the majority of the readers of ABC News would immediately raise their fists, nod their heads and cuss out loud yelling "Hell Yes the USA is responsible."

wasnt most of 911 terrosist saudi arbians why are we getting ready to sell them a huge arms deal

God = Please save us and the Iraqis from liberals! AMEN!

DNC - Al-queda's political arm.

This story is a bunch of crap. Its only purpose is to anger the mobs of libs and demos. I take it for what it is. Crap.