What Abuse Hath Wrought

Listening to the 5-minute speeches in the House "debate" -- actually a non-debate, made to a nearly empty chamber over these past days -- in snippets on NPR, I feel much emotion but still hear no clear voice, no one speech that NAILS it. In my frustration with my democratic republic's despicable behavior so far this century, on my daily 100-mile commutes to work for/in this great land, I find myself composing my own speeches. What would I say? Hmm.
Of course, by the time I reach home, I'm completely fagged out, able only to grab a bite and flop in a soft chair, and fall asleep before one pablumatic TV crime show or other. And before dawn, I'm up doing the whole routine all over again, my intellectual and pariotic wheels spun out in fitful sleep, only to be overrun by the very real and weary wheels of my car on the endless American freeway to Hellenback (Texas).
So tonite I force myself onto my laptop to try and grind out at least ONE statement on the state of things, to alleviate my frustration . . . even though I know maybe only three people will ever log on to read it. But here goes:

Simply, what has our military adventure in Iraq wrought? (Facts only, please.)

1) 3100 US soldiers dead.
2) Uncertain number of US civilians dead (contractors, mercenaries).
3) Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians dead, mostly innocent victims.
4) The removal and execution of bad regime leaders, the Husseins et al.
5) A failed state, fallen into near-total chaos.
6) Mideast infrastructures, including oilfields, and political check-and-balance alliances, destroyed or badly deteriorated.
7) Native defensive insurgencies, initially staunched against brute alien power (not unlike the "insurgents" of the 13 American colonies), overtaken by radical Muslim organizations and turned to sectarian exterminations -- in fact, a civil war.
8) Hatred of American government and Christian values instilled in a whole new generation of war victims, their families and communities.
9) Usurpation of governing and legislative powers by the US presidencial administration, bordering on illegal conspiracy.
10) Gross intimidation and manipulation of media, a de facto loss of freedom of the press.
11) Dilution of US judicial system and process.
12) Creation of secret prisons overseas, run by corporate contractors beyond the reach of legal or moral oversight.
13) Condoning -- and practicing -- of state torture, declared boldly.
14) State violation of basic constitutional rights; illegal wiretapping.
15) The "disappearing" of whomever the administration targets, simply by labeling them an "enemy combatant."
16) Complete depowering of the Legislative branch by the instituting of Executive "signing statements" as legal case precedence.
17) Suspension of habeas corpus by the Executive branch, unreviewable by the Judicial branch. (Even Lincoln couldn't get away with that in our own Civil War.)
18) The direct loss of billions of dollars, some of which was itself simply "disappeared" . . . likely returning in the form of bombs and bullets.
19) Dangerous distress to the US economy, serving us into indebtedness to a communist country which past brave patriots battled mightily and died to "contain," for decades, and which now owns perhaps a third of our national economic assets.
20) Loss of US stature as the standard-bearer of civil liberty and human decency in the eyes of the world, making our military posturing all the more frightening and irrational.

What, for all this loss, have we gained?

1) More oil, and cheaper gas? No.
2) The capture of Osama Bin Ladin et al? No.
3) Diminution of terrorism, and the will to do violence? No.
4) Worldwide coalition alliances? No.
5) Freedom and rights for other people and countries? No.
6) Majority support from our own populace? No.
7) A closer union within the United Nations? No.
8) "Free World" trust and faith? No.
9) Admiration of the principles of Chritianity? No.
10) Greater opportunity and quality of life for our children? No.
11) Stronger nation, economy, environmental stability? No.
12) Pride in our actions for humanity, like we felt after WWII? No.

Certainly not.

Oh . . . and as for America's vaunted War On Drugs, by which we virtually dictate policy to other countries by dangling money on a big stick? . . . Our actions have fostered the greatest increase in heroin poppy cultivation the world has ever seen? AND, left us too crippled to battle warlords and druglords, who now operate with impunity, where once they feared US military force.

For the life-loving potheads of the world, maybe that's a good thing. But for the crack addicts in our alleys (and increasingly in our homes!), and the heroin overdoses in our hospitals and morgues, that's a very sad thing.

And don't get me started on Nixon and Reagan, and where these boys like Cheney and Rumsfeld learned their neighborhood wargame tactics, and their pathologic paranoia . . .

Don't get me started, America. For Eisenhower, the supreme commander perhaps on a par with Napoleon and Caesar, did warn us of the military-industrial complex. And Jefferson did say the best thing for the health of the United States was a revolution every twenty years.

Do I mean violence? Hell, no. I mean stuff like go see Al Gore's movie. And support the HEALING of the troops more than the arming. (Ironic: arm them so they can come home legless.)

Hell, the promise of a college education and a $40,000 signing bonus would've turned my teenage head around too . . . as long as no one showed me pictures of the poor guys and gals sitting back in the ghetto with no apendages, missing organs, no balls, no faces, no family, no hope, no future . . .

Like Vietnam? Well . . . thank god a freak from Hollywood turned me on to acid when he did; and my high school buddy came back from 'Nam in 1966 and sat me down over beers between sets of my rock band, when I was holding my final draft notice, and told me, with tears in his eyes, "Man, don't go, whatever you gotta do. It's insane. Fred's gone, man -- he's dead. The guy we played football with. If you let 'em get you, man, I'll personally find you and break your neck! I swear, I'll f___ you up. 'Cause if I don't, they will."

". . . They come from here and there and you and me, and brothers,
can't you see, this is not the way we put an end to war? . . ."

Humbly yours, Capt. Dreadnaut