4,000 DEAD - How Many More?

4,000 Dead - I remember when the death toll hit 2,000. I have a black t-shirt with 2000 DEAD in big, bold faced white letters. That was at the end of October, 2005. Three years later what have we, as a nation, learned? Have we collectively learned anything? I feel numb and for the life of me, can't think of a single thing. I can't remember not knowing what I know now. That this is not a war, it is an occupation of a country who the United States invaded under the guise of several big lies. The first lie was, that hidden someplace in Iraq, were weapons of mass destruction. The second big lie was that our country was liberating the Iraqi people and delivering our form of democracy to them. The third lie was that somehow Iraq had something to do with 9/11. All of these lies were hoisted upon the world.

Just who is the enemy in this "war?" Ask one of the "troops" we are all supposed to be supporting. The enemy is anyone and anything. It is the lady who voted and stained her thumb purple, she used to run a corner store but now she can't leave her house without being covered head to toe in yards of fabric, she no longer is allowed to work.

It is the 11 year old boy who is missing his left arm and is partially blind. He used to play soccer across the street from his school. The school isn't there now and the soccer field isn't green because there is no water.

The enemy is the old man whose family is all dead. He is alone now. He can't go to worship at the mosque because he is too afraid to leave his house. The people who we went to liberate are the enemy. The 14 year old girl who watches as her family is killed because they live in the same neighborhood as an insurgent. The dogs who scavenge for scraps must be the enemy too, they are being killed by our soldiers. The family trying to get to the hospital in the middle of the night because their baby is sick, they are killed because they fail to stop when a frightened teenage American yells in a language the Iraqi driver can't understand. This is worse than a nightmare. It is real and it is happening right now. It will keep happening until we stop this madness and bring our soldiers home.