Better Off?

I know I was the first to say lets all shut up about politics, but this really isn't political, it is a humanity issue.
In order to compose a blog filled w/ many facts, I went to reputable sites NOT other people's blogs.
It's high time to pose again Reagan's famous question: Are we better off now than we were four years ago?
Few would answer 'yes'. American deaths have risen above 4500, with more than 35,000 troops suffering wounds (the mental trauma inflicted on veterans is incalculable). Iraqi civilian deaths are beyond counting, almost certainly more than 50,000. According to the U.N., there are 4.2 million Iraqi refugees; about one Iraqi in seven now struggles to survive as a refugee.
The Iraqi economy is in shambles. The middle class is fleeing the country in droves, after having been impoverished. Those left behind live in squalor and oppressive heat, every day is a struggle just to make do. It's getting harder by the day even to find bridges left standing.
Bloodshed, torture, kidnapping, rape, looting, mayhem, death in every form...have become the constant companions Iraqi civilians.

(CBS) Many Iraqis think conditions have gotten so bad in their country; they'd like to see Saddam Hussein back in power, according to some of the seven young Iraqi men who had a candid discussion with The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. All are college-educated and speak English. "When the Americans started this whole war issue," said one, who will be referred to as person No. 1, "we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we walked toward it. But when the war happened, that light was the American train coming the other way that ran us over." He told of a recent day when he "saw a body on the sidewalk, and it was covered with cardboard, and people were still in their shops, saying hello to each other and inviting each other for tea, and I asked about him, and they said, 'He got killed this morning.' 'Oh, OK, yeah, see ya later.' " "They are killing people for what they say, just like Saddam," said a young man who will be referred to as person No. 2. "They kill people because the people say, 'I don't like (this one or that one).' You get killed for that. "They're using horrible ways to kill people. They're not just shooting them in the head. They suffocate them, strangle them, and burn them. Horrible things, things we heard about only during Saddam's days are coming back now. It's an effort to terrorize people, not just to eliminate your enemy, but to force everyone to shut up and stay home.
So, asked Smith of the young men, "You know people who would like it better the old way?" "Yes," responded No. 1. "It breaks my heart knowing that, because it was so bad, but now, they feel it's worse, and they just wish that Saddam's regime could come back." A young man, who will be called No. 3, added: "A lot of people want, well, 'We just want Saddam come back. We don't want to live this life. OK, dictator? We don't care; doesn't matter anymore. We just want Saddam get back. We just want our life to get back to before.' "

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This is a quote from the man that took a hammer to the bronzed statue of Hussein, Kadhim al-Jubouri
"I really regret bringing down the statue. The Americans are worse than the dictatorship. Every day is worse than the previous day."
The information Congress was given prior to the war was false. There were no weapons of mass destruction; the Iraqis did not participate in the 9/11 attacks; Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were enemies and did not conspire against the United States; our security was not threatened; we were not welcomed by cheering Iraqi crowds as we were told; and Iraqi oil has not paid any of the bills. Congress failed to declare war, but instead passed a wishy-washy resolution citing UN resolutions as justification for our invasion. After the fact we’re now told the real reason for the Iraq invasion was to spread democracy, and that the Iraqis are better off. Anyone who questions the war risks being accused of supporting Saddam Hussein, disapproving of democracy, or “supporting terrorists.” It’s implied that lack of enthusiasm for the war means one is not patriotic and doesn’t support the troops. In other words, one must march lock-step with the consensus or be ostracized.

How much better off are the Iraqi people? Hundreds of thousands of former inhabitants of Fallajah are not better off with their city flattened and their homes destroyed. Hundreds of thousands are not better off living with foreign soldiers patrolling their street, curfews, and the loss of basic utilities. One hundred thousand dead Iraqis, as estimated by the Lancet Medical Journal, certainly are not better off. Better to be alive under Saddam Hussein than lying in some cold grave.

And now a little info about the Christians in Iraq……..

There are only 800,000 Christians living in Iraq, but under Saddam Hussein they were free to practice their religion. Tariq Aziz, a Christian, served in Saddam Hussein’s cabinet as Foreign Minister – something that would never happen in Saudi Arabia, Israel, or any other Middle Eastern country. Today, the Christian churches in Iraq are under attack and Christians are no longer safe. Many Christians have been forced to flee Iraq and migrate to Syria. It’s strange that the human rights advocates in the U.S. Congress have expressed no concern for the persecution now going on against Christians in Iraq.

Are we better off than we were 4 years ago? When you answer this silently to yourself, dig deep in your gut, what do you really think?
Is Iraq better off now than it was before? Have you seen or heard about any REAL proof that things are improving? The “election” that was held in Iraq was imposed on by the U.S and didn’t automatically make them a democracy. There is still mayhem. In America’s history, it was democracy first and then the use of elections. Just b/c we have had soldiers there fighting, killing, dying does not make life better or even heading in the right direction for Iraq.

I said I’d stop talking about crappy politics, but I had to compose this blog. Maybe Obama has me passionate about world events for quite possibly the first time in my life.
If that is not progression, then I don’t know what is!