Left I on the News

From the same Barack Obama speech:

"I want to take a moment to speak directly to the people of Iraq.
...
Our nations have known difficult times together. But ours is a bond forged by shared bloodshed, and countless friendships among our people. We Americans have offered our most precious resource – our young men and women – to work with you to rebuild what was destroyed by despotism; to root out our common enemies; and to seek peace and prosperity for our children and grandchildren, and for yours."

The U.S. invaded Iraq, saw a million Iraqis die while a few thousands Americans also died, and that generates "a bond forged by shared bloodshed"? Are you effing kidding me? We "offered up...our young men and women" to "root out our common enemies"...who weren't anywhere near Iraq until the U.S. invaded? Are you kidding me? And we "offered up" the lives of those same "young men and women" in order to "seek peace and prosperity for our children and grandchildren" and for Iraqi children and grandchildren? Are you kidding me? The invasion of Iraq has done incalculable damage to the prosperity of both the U.S. and Iraq, indebted our children and grandchildren to the tune of trillions of dollars, not to mention what it's done to the Iraqis.

The invasion of Iraq had nothing whatsoever to do with "destroying despotism" or "rooting out enemies" or "seeking peace and prosperity." It had to do with "remaking the Middle East" and oil and extending U.S. hegemony and eliminating a leader who wasn't under the U.S. thumb, to name just some of the driving forces.

Platitudes are one thing. This is way beyond that. It's disgusting.

Update: I should add that this lie is obviously equally reprehensible:

"We sent our troops to Iraq to do away with Saddam Hussein’s regime."

We did no such thing.

Then there was this:

"We cannot sustain indefinitely a commitment that has put a strain on our military, and will cost the American people nearly a trillion dollars."

A trillion? Think again. Three years ago Harvard economists Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz estimated the total cost of the war at $2 trillion. A year ago they upped their estimate to $3 trillion. Who knows where we are now? What we do know is that "$1 trillion" is a gross underestimate.