The war in Iraq is finally over. http://www.cnn.com/... 4,484 US troops killed, innumerable Iraqis too, over 150,000 for sure (things got so bad they stopped counting). Over $800 billion spent by the US.
I have been speaking out against this war for a long time. In 2003, on the 5th anniversary of the invasion my friend Alan and I held a memorial in Battery Park City, NYC. We stood in the freezing cold and read off the names of all 3,990 or so troops that had been killed at the time. It took 7 hours.
In organizing the event, I talked to the New York City Parks Department to get a permit. The lady in charge was a hippie like me and she gave it to me. I went to the police department down on Greenwich Avenue to get a permit for amplified sound. This was in the pre-Occupy Wall Street era, so the officer at the desk just asked if it was going to get out of hand. I told him it was just going to be me and one other guy reading names. I assured the cop I expected nobody to pay attention, which was kind of the point I was trying to prove. Sadly, I was right. Thousands of tourists visiting the Statue of Liberty walked by and nobody gave a shit.
The next day, Easter Sunday, the 4,000th American lost their life. Here's an article with a picture of douchebag George W. Bush hugging an Easter Bunny as that happened.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...
I don't care if you didn't pay attention while this was going on, but I encourage you to start paying attention now, because they are trying to do it again. All of the Republican presidential candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, are trying to gin up a case for war with Iran, based on fear of equally imaginary weapons of mass destruction. Don't let them get away with it. And keep pressure on President Obama, don't let him cave in as he has done on so many other issues and start a war with Iran when he gets re-elected.
As John Lennon and Yoko Ono said, "War is over, if you want it."
So don't let them repeat history. It's up to you.
Peace. And Merry Christmas. And Happy Hanukkah. And everything else.