Lessons on the 5th year of the Iraq War

It has now been 5 years to the day that the Bush regime allowed the travesty that has been the Iraq War to commence. They had thousands of advisers, and whether they really believed them, or decided to manipulate the American people even though silently knowing that the current situation was inevitable, doesn't change the fact that we are now entrenched in a quagmire like Vietnam, with no end in sight. Should American troops withdraw today, then Iraq will probably revert to a long period of drawn-out extensive internal conflicts, a deepening of the civil war currently raging, and drawing neighboring countries into the ensuing pit of despair. Should the troops remain, then they would be stretched too thin, and our standing in the world will continue to freefall. There are no easy answers and no easy solutions, but clearly, one of them has to be to reduce our presence in Iraq, regardless of the ramifications. We cannot continue on a path towards idiocy when all efforts have proved futile. At the moment, some optimists and delusional individuals assume that the reduction in recent violence will continue unabated. The truth is that both Shi'a and Sunni are arming themselves for a long drawn out bitter conflict over the ruins of what will be Iraq. This short-sighted, treacherous administration has allowed, through perjury, rampant idiocy, and stupid ideological beliefs, a conflict that will only escalate for the coming decades. When people look upon this generation, they will wonder how so many followed in such silent and obedient steps behind the stupidest and most ill-conceived international policies. We handed the world a hate card for being American, and allowed ourselves to enter a period of dwindling resources, severe recession, and heavy pessimism. Digging out of this hole is a task that may take decades to accomplish, and even then, our standing in the world will never be what it once was.

A lesson to be learned from this tragedy, beyond all the obvious ones such as checking facts, relying on proper information, upholding constitutional standards, and abiding by a moral code that puts human beings ahead of economic agendas, is that even individuals with powers that far exceed our own can often be wrong. They are no better at judging our future then the educated person with a rational and open mind. We provide so much faith in our so called leaders, to guide us, drive our agendas, and hope that through it all, our desires can be accomplished, and we will all be better off in the end. The truth of the matter is that these individuals are selfish and greedy human beings, who look out for their own skin and their own bank accounts. They are above the law in so many ways, that it's unbelievable that they have the freedoms they do. They wantonly commit perjury, desecration of our civil liberties, and constant hypocritical modes of behavior that would shame even the most extremist terrorists. Their constant control of the masses, over polarizing issues like abortion, gun control, sexual orientation, religious values only blind the population from seeing the lying pathetic pigs that they are. There is no aura or mysticism associated with these bastards who hold high elected offices. Who cares about their degrees in politics, law, economics, etc, when they act selfishly? We are so quick to criticize Communist or Fascist dictators, when our elected officials don't exactly behave differently. Our democracy is a facade hidden under greedy corporate capitalists. This doesn't mean one must advocate communism or socialism, but our mode of capitalism only helps the elite, and encumbers the masses. We are far from a truly egalitarian society, and although there are many complex reasons for the divisions, greed and power are never far from the equation.

Ultimately then, just as blind faith in religion, a higher power, or some supernatural entity is wrong, similarly, blind faith in elected officials, ideology and nationalism are also wrong. There are various levels of faith, but as long as one suspends their skepticism and their rational mind, and allows some idea that has no basis outside of the human mind to exist, then we're all slaves to a system. It does help to have some level of background education, but many are capable of breaking the chains of mental manipulation when taught to think skeptically and rationally. Basing facts on empirical evidence, and observation, is but one change that must be sought. Increasing an interest in the real world, outside of human ideology is another aspect that must be strengthened. For all of our ills, and problems, ultimately, they are meaningless to the cosmos. Does the universe really care if one decides abortion is moral? Some may say yes, but those individuals are allowing their faith in an imaginary entity to dictate what moral and humanitarian beliefs should be upheld. Our morality is based on our evolutionary past, and we should strive to approach an egalitarian society, where disparity between people is more equalized. Not to argue for complete equality, because as individuals, every human being is different, but as more people begin to think critically, and question ideology, much can be accomplished in the world.

Although the Iraq war, among many other facts active in the American experience, has set us decades back from rigorous democracy and global diplomacy, all is not lost. As long as a segment of the populations operates skeptically, and with an open and rational mind, then there is hope for the future. The divisive issues of the time are just props used by the elite to control the general populace into herd behavior. We, the people, are cattle, to be driven across the landscape, milked of everything we have, devoid of freedom and the open air, constantly providing resources to those few we ourselves select. It's unimaginable that an enlightened human being can provide someone else with so much power. These idiots speak of freedom, liberty, and democracy; they talk highly of being moral, law abiding, religious individuals, when they are often, worse then the general populace. Their supposed religious values are a farce. They claim that they abide by a higher power, and those who are not religious are egotistical, but the hypocrisy of those supposedly abiding by a higher, moral power is stunning. They are just using these religious values to control the populace, pretending to be interested in what some idiot preacher, priest, rabbi, imam, monk, guru, or sociopath has to say. The only true democratic development would be to rip the power away from the hands of these tyrannical bastards and back to the properly educated people. The way to do that would be to reorganize the electorate, allow more then 2 parties to dominate the political landscape, have a truly independent, open and honest media, and allow for greater accountability for elected officials. Reorganize the corporate democracy we have now wouldn't be such a bad idea either, and last of all, no campaigning years before an election. Campaigns should be as short as possible, with 10 debates, with questions that are asked by randomly selected individuals. No prepared statements or speeches, but a true test of the capability of these candidates. Finally, and most importantly, spend as much money as possible on a centralized educational system where every student across the country between kindergarten and high school has the same curriculum. A little freedom should be allowed by the high school level. All the trillions that are projected to be spent in Iraq could better have been spent on education, science, research and development, social services, etc. The greatest tragedy of all is that people are willing to be lied towards entering a costly and unending war out of fear, but spending the same amount of money on infrastructure and the advancement of society is frowned upon and argued endlessly.