The official death toll of Americans in Iraq is now 2,766. http://icasualties.org/oif/
119 Brits and 118 'others'. Total American wounded or stricken by disease in Iraq, 44,779 (the British government keeps its wounded figures secret).

The monetary cost of the war to Americans is here: http://nationalpriorities.org/index....per&Itemid=182

All this without counting a single life or penny lost in Afghanistan.

The loss of life to Iraqis and Afghans must be nearing the million mark. Both countries are worse off now than before invasion and Iraq is in the throes of a civil war in all but name. Scores of people are being tortured and killed daily.

Civil liberties in Britain and the US are being curbed weekly and ethnic tensions, certainly in the UK, are at their worst ever.

Most of us lazily accept that the cause of these disasters were the events of '9/11' but that is wrong. This evil was born from the minds of a tiny cabal of right-wing Americans. All those lives, all that money, all the future conflict, suffering and death being created as I type this, sprang from black hearts that still beat in America.

We all suffer from a 24/7 onslaught of news and views these days which tends to make our collective memory short, but take yourself back to the 11th of September 2001, a stunningly small time ago, given world events since. We were then, and continue to be told now, that an Earth-shattering event had taken place. Nothing would ever be the same. A rubicon had been crossed. How easily we accept such nonsense. What occurred was a crime of huge and terrible proportions. Mass murder for the masses to watch on their 24/7 televisions.

The America of today, accursed and reviled by millions, at that time was receiving perhaps the largest single global swell of human sympathy and compassion. The people of the Earth were united in shock and a desire to help. True, a few miserable souls danced in the streets but it merely magnified the feelings of solidarity with Americans for the rest of us.

The Star Spangled Banner was played at Buckingham Palace and the French declared 'We are all Americans now'. Europeans, Canadians, Mexicans, Australians, Asians, Africans and yes, Arabs were caught in the moment. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and the rest shed tears for the attack on America and humanity.

Imagine a wise and compassionate US president, imagine how he or she could have benefited his people and the world from this unique global 'coming together'. Think how such a person could have galvanised other world leaders into action against criminal terror. Contemplate for a moment what just one billion dollars could have achieved in a global police thrust. True, we might not have caught Bin Laden, but we haven't now. We wouldn't have removed Saddam, but his nation suffers even more cruelly today.

What we would have achieved is a world-wide focus on, those then, disparate groups of thugs and terrorists. A concerted action against evil.

Instead, the small group of US imperialists which currently controls the levers of power, spat in the face of Americas friends, confident in the knowledge that American military power alone was enough to sustain them and project their dirty ambitions. Instead, a great nation embarked on a killing spree, accompanied by 'Shock and Awe'. A bully went berserk in the killing fields of 'over there'.

Today, more people regard the US as a greater menace to peace than any other nation or group. Islamic fundamentalist terror has been 'grown' to extraordinary proportions and America and Europe are less safe now than for decades. The wealth of humanity was squandered and gold was turned into lead.

That wise and compassionate leader was missing when needed. Let's hope that he comes along to repair the destruction of the leader that let us all down.

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'Never was so much owed by so many to so few.' Sir Winston Churchill.

Nearly 750,000 Iraqis have died since 2003 who might still be alive but for the US-led invasion. That is a cause for shame, not pride.

K... did you not post that one already??... Did you see lockdowns comments? they are directly relevant to your post.... or repeat post??...

No, this was the first post. I put it up within minutes of writing it.

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'Never was so much owed by so many to so few.' Sir Winston Churchill.

Nearly 750,000 Iraqis have died since 2003 who might still be alive but for the US-led invasion. That is a cause for shame, not pride.

K has become a reclusive shadowy figure these days . We're simply not stimulating his brain cells to get a derogatory remark or thoughtful peice of prose . where are you Mr K ,we miss our education lessons

Lets try and summons him from the Army.com vaults . Come out come out where ever you are Mr Kurusch!

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'Never was so much owed by so many to so few.' Sir Winston Churchill.

Nearly 750,000 Iraqis have died since 2003 who might still be alive but for the US-led invasion. That is a cause for shame, not pride.

Its a miracle ! We must be on some tele Path Thick frequency ....RAOFLAO

he's a borg! kill him.

Say what?!

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Who Dares Wins

Haha... Not a star trek fan then??.... Borg are a fictional species of mechanised cyborgs who want to take over the world... like a science fiction "Big Brother"