MotherJones Blog: Replaying the Iraq War's Greatest Hits, Five Years On

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Replaying the Iraq War's Greatest Hits, Five Years On

It's been five years since we headed down the rabbit hole to Iraq. Reflecting on this milestone while visiting Baghdad a couple of days ago, Dick Cheney declared that "we've come a long way" since the days of "Mission Accomplished," describing the war as "a difficult, challenging, but nonetheless successful endeavor." Which in the topsy-turvy, up-is-down world of Iraqspeak means that we are still horribly, gut-wrenchingly screwed.

To commemorate the war's fifth birthday, here's a brief collection of some of Mother Jones' coverage of the challenges and difficulties of the past few years. Or, as the vice president might put it, the Iraq War's greatest hits:

• Before 2003, Iraq had no ties to Al Qaeda. Now it's a terrorist breeding ground and distraction from the war on terror—the one that was against the Al Qaeda that existed before we created the new one in Iraq.

• Remember how Ahmad Chalabi conned the White House into invading Iraq? Suckers. Hard-nosed journalists would have never fallen for his crap. Oh wait—they did.

• So maybe it was a bad idea to take the soldiers involved in prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and send them to run prisons in Iraq.

• But then, the highest-ranking officer to be tried for the abuses at Abu Ghraib was let off with a slap on the wrist. Clearly, there's nothing more to see here.

• Hey, Senator McCain—we know that it's hard to keep track of that Sunni-Shia thing. Our "Iraq for Dummies" handbook can help.

• The good news: More GIs are surviving their combat wounds than ever before. The bad news: More than 3,900 have died. And more than 4,600 have suffered serious head or brain injuries; more than 1,300 are amputees.

• Saddam's WMDs were nonexistent, but he did have real, live weapons researchers whom the U.S. let slip slip through the cracks. Just promise you'll keep that nefarious know-how to yourselves, guys!

• Public service announcement: Getting out of Iraq is gonna be ugly any way you slice it.

• So many lies, so little time—lies about WMDs, lies about progress on the ground, lies about torture. We've been collecting them in our "Lie By Lie" timeline—years of official mendacity at your fingertips!

No doubt the hits will keep coming in the year ahead. By next March, Cheney will have moved on, but no matter who occupies the White House, the U.S. will will have spent another year in Iraq.

Comments

I listened to the President’s speech and he sure sees a different world than I do.

I was against this war from the start, and feel there was plenty of evidence back then to say we should not invade.

The President seems to ignore:
· This war has displaced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis
· This war has killed untold thousands of Iraqis
· It appears with our powerful weapons we destroy more infrastructure everyday that we rebuild.
· We have lost almost four thousand troops and suffered almost thirty thousand wounded
· We had drained our treasure and charged this meaningless war
· Our invasion has increased al Quida not reduced it
· Our invasion has reduced our influence in the world
· Our invasion has depleted our military

So he appears to have his dream, but reality says we need to end this and end it now for the good of the world, Iraq, and our own survival.

Posted by: Jim Ramsey on 03/19/08 at 7:35 AM Respond

If I had the money I would be considering expatriation myself. It is sad, is there going to be a turn around? Network news should be boycoted.

Posted by: Kevin Kakareka on 03/19/08 at 12:03 PM Respond

If McCain wins I'm saving my money to move out of country ASAP!

Posted by: MArshall on 03/19/08 at 1:41 PM Respond

If (when) the Republicans win (steal) the Presidency in '08 can those of us who do not goose-step behind the regime apply for refugee status in other friendly countries? If not guess I better start investing that tax rebate that's gonna kick-start the economy for expatriation! Oh, wait, the won't work, the dollar is worth nothing, the stock market is plunging and the price of gas will drain the little bit I have left so I can't even get close to the border! But I guess when the bank forecloses on all my neighbors homes I can just take my cardboard box and become a squatter... I guess Bush is right, the war is going great and we are not in a recession!

Posted by: Lily on 03/20/08 at 6:44 AM Respond

Remember, the Republicans (read: right wing conservatives) will NOT win the W.H. AS LONG AS Democrats and Independents come out in droves, and drive those to the polls who cannot do so themselves, to vote for the Clinton/Obama ticket! (Yes, Obama/Clinton is just fine, too!) Keep talking about the election, make sure people around you understand how perilous our world will continue to be if we do not have a regime change this year! Want more of the same, folks?....then go ahead and vote Republican.

Posted by: kat on 03/20/08 at 10:56 AM Respond

consider costa rica

Posted by: ralph on 03/26/08 at 7:57 PM Respond

Agree/agree = has to be an all out effort !! For the entire world's sake not just the USA.....but we deserve that change of regime' - for sure.

Posted by: Lulu13 on 03/27/08 at 3:31 PM Respond