Home News Tribune Online 10/4/06

Osama bin Laden's terrorist followers attacked us on 9/11, killing 2,973 Americans and other nationals. As if President Bush desired to best Osama, he embarked on an unjustified war against the Iraqi people, who never attacked us, taking, so far, the lives of 2,710 Americans and 300 allied soldiers (sadly surpassing bin Laden's count). Another 60,000 American soldiers have been severely injured or psychologically damaged. In addition, $400 billion has been wasted.

The Iraqi losses are estimated to be 180,000 killed and the continuous killing of 3,000 a month in the ensuing civil war, plus the destruction of the entire country. Adding to this mayhem, the latest declassified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling global terrorism and anti-Americanism, contrary to Bush's allegation that attacking Iraq would eliminate terrorism (which never originated in pre-war Iraq).

All the false pretexts for this war, from weapons of mass destruction, Iraq's connection to 9/11, and the democratization of the Middle East have been lately abandoned by the administration without any hint of apology for wasting lives and treasures.

When the administration and the neo-conservatives are confronted with questions about this fiasco they resort to the last cover, i.e., protecting Israel from Saddam Hussein who was assisting the families of the Palestinian suicide bombers.

We read that Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Laurie Mylroie, Douglas Feith, Paul "Scooter'' Libby, Michael Ledeen, Daniel Pipes, James Woolsey and other pro-Israel hawks (including the Christian right televangelists who want to hasten the coming of Christ into triumphant Israel by vanquishing its enemies), used to say that the road to Jerusalem goes through Baghdad, and the war would enhance Israeli security. They predicted that the war would be a cakewalk, our soldiers would be welcomed as liberators, it would cost no more than $50 billion, which would be reimbursed by Iraqi oil, and we would be in and out in three months.

Now we know how ruinous this misadventure turned out to be. None of those false prophets of doom has been called to account; on the contrary, they have been rewarded or still holding critical positions in the administration or the media.

During the last Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Israelis lost 156 soldiers. They became angry and have been demonstrating since, forcing an investigation of that blunder and demanding the removal of their government, which went into unnecessary war that didn't bring back their two captured soldiers.

According to The New York Times on Sept. 4, Israeli lawyers are preparing a defense for the government officials and army officers traveling abroad who could face war-crime charges for their atrocities in Lebanon. Last year the Israeli retired General Doron Almog, who ordered an air strike in Gaza in 2002 that killed 15 civilians, nine of them children, was tipped off by Israeli diplomats as he was arriving in London that British authorities were about to arrest him for that massacre. He remained on the plane and returned to Israel. If the Israelis were angered by losing 156 soldiers in a war that supposedly was waged to defend their own country, why should we sacrifice the lives of thousands of our people to support the Israeli policies? The Israeli people and the British authorities held the Israeli government and its generals accountable for their destructive deeds. One wonders who would hold our government liable for its follies by starting a horrendous war that consumed hundreds of thousands of lives and squandered hundreds of billions of dollars.

These days we are hearing ominous voices demanding that Bush attack Iran before he leaves office in two years. These are the voices of neo-cons and the pro-Israeli lobby spearheaded by Bill Kistol, the editor of the Weekly Standard (which Dick Cheney insists that his staff read regularly). They are stoking the hysteria over an Iranian nuclear program. Although our intelligence estimates that the possibility of Iran manufacturing a nuclear bomb could take between 10 and 15 years, the Israeli foreign minister declared, incitingly last week, that Iran could produce a nuclear bomb in five months. Listening to the administration's members and the pro-Israel lobby, one hears only the worries for Israel's security. We should not worry about Iran attacking, because it is incapable of reaching us and surely knows that it would be obliterated in retaliation.

If the Israelis are troubled by losing a few soldiers in the Lebanon war it would be unconscionable for them or for their supporters in the United States to ask our sons and daughters to die in Iran, which is larger and stronger than Iraq, just to support non-American interests.

"Be Counted'' columnist Hassan Mahmoud is a resident of Westfield. "Be Counted'' columnists are members of the public. Their opinions do not represent those of the Home News Tribune.