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Al Jazeera (English)
    Baghdad Burning Blog (by Riverbend, an Iraqi civilian girl)
            Dahr Jamail's Blog from Baghdad
                Imad Khadduri's blog "Free Iraq" (scroll down for English version)

Iraqi Civilian Deaths ... caused by Bush's unprovoked war

 

Attacking Iraq could cause collateral damage inside the US
Saddam Hussein and his army won't be the only ones who suffer from a U.S. invasion. The human costs of any war are incalculable. And, the financial costs of this war could cripple an already struggling American economy. So why are politicians blithely ignoring these domestic casualties? Missing from the debate is an acknowledgment that the war could have devastating consequences for America as well as for Iraq. For example, attacking Iraq may:

• Trigger another September 11-like terror attack. The government says al Qaeda cells are operating inside the United States. If that's the case, launching an attack on an Arab nation could give these terrorists another incentive to murder scores of innocent men, women, and children. Why are saber-rattling politicians so silent about that possibility?
• Cause U.S. troops to be targeted with weapons of mass destruction. Attacking Iraq could prompt Saddam to unleash chemical and biological weapons if he has them. But here's one surefire way to protect our troops from such a horrific attack: Keep them out of Iraq.
• Subject U.S. troops and other Americans in the Middle East to a nuclear attack. In the event of a U.S. invasion, Saddam may lob Scud missiles at Israel, as he did during the Gulf War. But this time Israel says it will retaliate, perhaps with nuclear weapons. If that occurs, the lives of everyone in the region would be at risk of annihilation.
• Harm the economy. Estimates say that the war will cost $100 billion to 200 billion, not including the costs of occupying Iraq. With the economy in recession, the government should be slashing federal spending, not increasing it.
• Cause the stock market to plummet even further. The major stock indexes have suffered their worst quarterly loss since the crash of '87 – a drop that many analysts attribute to war fears.
• Force taxpayers to foot the bill for nation-building. Even when the war is over for Saddam Hussein, it won't be over for American taxpayers. In fact National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice says the U.S. will be "completely devoted" to rebuilding Iraq. But wouldn't taxpayers be better off if the government didn't destroy other nations in the first place? And didn't conservatives ridicule nation-building back when Bill Clinton was doing it in Somalia?

Politicians treat war like every other government program, by overestimating the benefits, underestimating the true costs – and lying about who's really going to pay.

posted by Hal 8:54 AM