Why we Americans went to war.

Nowadays it's too easy for a president to start a war. And wage a war. Indefinitely. Take the war in Iraq, for instance. In days of old, if we had a war, we'd have a draft. We'd mobilize the nation, so to speak. Citizens would have to be convinced that it was a just war. Otherwise, they wouldn't support the draft. That happened, for instance, with Vietnam. But now we wage war with volunteers. And hired mercenaries. We don't ask citizens as a whole to make sacrifices. Such as risking their lives in battle. So George Bush and the neo-conservatives get away with waging a war in Iraq that has lasted longer than World War II. And some economists say it may end up costing trillions of dollars. With much of the debt being postponed. For payment by future generations. It's one reason why our economy is in such bad shape. We're wasting money and lives in Iraq. On a foolish, so-called pre-emptive war. One that really is immoral and obscene. People all across the world recognize that it's a bad war, and some have even suggested that Bush should go on trial for war crimes. Yes, that's a glaring example of how badly they perceive the war. I'm not saying whether they are right or wrong. That's still open to debate. But pardon me if I'm rather cynical. I have to wonder if that war would have been started if not for the oil that lies beneath Iraq. I see that American oil companies are being awarded non-competitive contracts to get the Iraqi oil industry on its feet again. Yes, makes me wonder why we Americans went to war. --Jim Broede