Thursday, December 15, 2011

No Ticker Tape Parade

No giant parties to welcome home the troops, so sense of accomplishment, not even much of a sense of relief, not even a sigh.  The war in Iraq is officially over!  Nine years, our longest war ever and it may go down in history as the war that never was.
   Officially it was Bush's War, a misguided response to 9-11, costing over $800 Billion and counting.  More than 4,500 dead American youngsters, our very best and strongest, over 32,000 seriously wounded.  Obama ran on the promise to end this tragedy and he did.   There should be celebrating, dancing in the streets and parties into the night, but there won't be.
   This was a war that we never felt.  It was not on television every night like the Vietnam war.  On a daily basis most of us never knew what was happening and probably couldn't even find Iraq on a map.  Shiites or Sunnis, we wouldn't know which was what.
   There was no rationing for this war, no scrounging for metal bits for the war effort, not even a tax to support the war effort.  All of it, the entire nine years has been put on our credit cards.  We had no idea what we were buying, how much it was going to cost.  It was a war without education and the National News should feel ashamed.  That "fifth element" of government did nothing.
   Thank you, President Obama for doing what you said you would do.  Maybe now we can concentrate on the Home Front, jobs here at home, what we need so badly.  So sad there is no jubilation, no pride in a job well done and over with.  We know the bill will be in the mail.

2 comments:

T. said...

So true. I have been wondering the same thing. Where is the excitement over this terrible war being over. It should have been done long ago. So many lives lost and so many injured and for what. Not to mention the financial crippling of this country because of it.

We should all be jumping for joy that it is finally coming to an end. And Obama should be praised for doing what he said he would. Instead he is ridiculed. Strange days are upon us. A strangeness in the complacency of the people of this country.

Jerry Carlin said...

Tiffiny, thank you my friend! Pretty weird and discouraging. We are discovering that we are not as nice as we think we are. Thank you for the comments, I'll be back when I have a story.