War is Over?

War is Over?

Oh, really? With 16,000 US personnel - primarily civilian "private contractors" ranging from a mercenary army of "security forces" to enormous diplomatic and logistical deployments and the largest physical "Consulate" in any country in the world- the size of a small American city, more than twice the size of Hudson, NY, the only city in Columbia County, the county in which I live.

......Won't we be defending that investment with the threat of force - and actual force if the threat proves inadequate? Won't the presence of such a concentration of "American interests" make an ongoing pretext for the US to "defend" said interests by whatever means it sees fit whenever it feels them "threatened?"

The active, overt military occupation may be over, but the "War on Terror" - which has to include "Al Qidah in Iraq" as a major "enemy" - goes ever on, since "terrorism" can never be defeated.

And if the Iraq War is over, can anyone name for me the "Noble Cause" (G.W. Bush) for which tens of thousands of casualties died and were grievously wounded - for which the country of Iraq was laid waste?

That is the saddest part - that we Americans can't admit we were hoodwinked and bamboozled by a bunch of amoral pirates who managed to steal $9Billion in the first year of the occupation alone and uncounted billions since.

It is tragic that we can't face the fact of our own inadequacy as a people to control our leaders (and change things to do something about it!), that makes a Fascist takeover of the US loom as a real possibility - if it hasn't already happened. It is even sadder that so many Americans (and Iraqis) have been sacrificed in such a selfish, ignominious adventure, and that our denial makes it impossible to express our remorse.

For myself, I apologize for not doing more to stop this despicable and lethal charade. On behalf of the American people I apologize to every American and every Iraqi who was sacrificed to the pride and greed of Bush&Co, and to that of Obama&Co, who have followed the same failed policies in spite of promises to do just the opposite.

War won't "end" until we renounce the use of armed force to enforce our will in the world, and other countries do the same. Until then, it will just be put on "pause."