4,000 Deaths!

Coming out of the Easter weekend, will we learn anything from what Jesus tried to convey to us? How many times did Jesus, who became the Christ, tell us to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, and not become embroiled in violence? But who believes that because much of the church preaches a blood-thirsty God who demanded the death of His son. So, thing it not strange that sometime this week we'll be reminded on the senseless killings when the American death toll of American lives reaches 4,000 in Iraq!



A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers north of Baghdad on Saturday, pushing the U.S. death toll in the five-year conflict to 3,996. Also Saturday, Iraqi authorities reported that a U.S. air strike north of the capital killed six members of a U.S.-backed Sunni group - straining relations with America's new allies in the fight against al-Qaida.



Two Iraqi civilians also died in the roadside bombing, which occurred as the Americans were patrolling an area northwest of the capital, the U.S. military said in a statement. Two of the soldiers were killed in the blast and the third died of wounds. And does anyone think McCain's visit to Baghdad last week did anything but further embolden the hawks in America?



Let's take Jesus and religion out of the equation and ask ourselves this question. How smart, how sensible, how wise is it to respond to the killing of 2,900 of our citizens with the killing of 800,000 of their people (mostly innocent civilians (babies, children, and non violent mothers and grand mothers) with the added cost of another 4,000 of our citizens. And the number of seriously wounded and maimed is in the tens of thousands.



Did I mention the HALF TRILLION in financial resources to support the killings? Add our lust and greed for consumerism (in it's many forms) to this debt and we're facing a financial crisis that could well destroy the US$ and American leadership (whatever is left of that) around the world.



This is insanity!



With the war entering its sixth year, President Bush paid tribute Saturday to America's fallen service members, saying in his weekly radio address that they will "live on in the memory of the nation they helped defend." Speaking for the Democrats, however, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey called on Bush to "face the reality" in Iraq and "tell us the truth" about the cost of the conflict as America is struggling with a faltering economy and mounting casualty tolls.



U.S. officials have pointed to a number of positive signs, including a 60 percent drop in violence since Bush ordered 30,000 U.S. reinforcements to Iraq early last year. Iraqis have also made some limited progress in power-sharing deals among rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities.



But here's the TRUTH!



If we pull out in 6-12 months, Iraq will revert back to their theocratic mindset for running a nation. If we pull out in five years they will revert back to their theocratic mindset. If we're there another decade, the same will happen. Muslims, regardless of ilk, believe in a theocratic government, not a democratic one wherein there is separation of church and state.



We evidently learned nothing from Viet Nam. Will we learn anything from Iraq? Let's face it. Viet Nam and Iraq would never have been fought were it not for our POWER, WEALTH, and ARROGANCE! The state of our nation is not good in too many ways: neither morally, nor philosophically.



Sad indeed!