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Don’t be fooled by Karl’s November Surprise

By Bill Larson | October 30, 2006 |

The Iraqi Government has “decided” to release the verdict from the Saddam Hussein “trial” on November 5th just two days before the United States General Election. It’s a move clearly intended to give the Bush Administration’s political party a boost in the polls as the corporate “news” media goes into a feeding frenzy of over exaggerated coverage.

While it cannot definitively be said that the reason the senior Iraqi court in charge of Saddam Hussein’s trial postponed its verdict in the case until two days before the November elections so that it would influence the midterms, the postponement suggests several obvious questions, including, most importantly: Given the Bush administration’s history of timing national security-related actions to the political calendar, has the date for the verdict’s release been set to provide maximum political benefit for the administration and congressional Republicans? - Media Matters

So don’t let this Rovian trick fool you.

Lets look at the Iraq War a bit. Over 338 billion dollars has been spent in Iraq, and it’s growing at over $10,000 per second. By time all is said and done, The total costs will likely end up in the trillions. Over 9 billion dollars has disappeared out right, though incompetence, fraud, and theft. Every man, woman, and child in the United States currently owes $1127.68 to pay for the cost of this war. By the time you finish this article, your share in the total costs has likely increased.

What could we have have done with this money inside our borders?

• Fixing social security
• Affordable housing
• Universal health care
• Alternative fuels research to reduce or eliminate our dependence on Middle eastern petroleum
• Medical research
• Finding new drugs
• Job creation
• Small business tax credits to help offset the expense from a minimum wage increase
• Increased college scholarships

The list is really endless but every one of those items would benefit the stability of our economy, and the security of our county more than removing a tin pot dictator we put into power and propped up until removing him was politically expedient.

The dollar costs do not include the human costs. Over 2,812 American Soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq. Then you have the 21,077 American soldiers wounded. The deaths and injuries of numerous private contractors, and soldiers from other nations are not included in those totals. For the Iraqi people the costs have been much higher. Estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths run from as low as 40,000 to as high as 650,000.

So when being deluged with the election eve news of the verdict in the Saddam Hussein trial, ask your self, do you feel that you’ve gotten your money’s worth?

About Bill Larson

Bill Larson is the Creator and Publisher of Clarksville Online, and works as a network administrator for Compu-Net Enterprises. He is politically and socially active in the community. Bill is a member of the Friends of Dunbar Cave, and an associate of the Clarksville Free Thinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties. You can reach him via telephone at 931-920-0043 or via the email address below.

Email: clarksville@clarksvilleonline.com