On Leaving Iraq...

With the 20/20 clarity provided by hindsight I'll say we should have just stayed the hell out of there.

Not because of the phony WMD data (every major intelligence agency in the world believed in them), not because it was "Bush's War" (Congress gave their okey-dokey on it) and not because of any question regarding the legality of the actions.

We never wholeheartedly supported the military when they were deployed there. THAT'S WHY WE SHOULD HAVE STAYED OUT!!

Our troops were sent in with one arm tied behind their backs in the way of asinine "rules of engagement". The media did what they could to sabotage any support (remember the LA Times placing a photoshopped pic of a Marine pointing his weapon at terrified women & children? It turned out he originally held out his empty hands in reassurance. Photoshop is the liar's friend.) The entire conflict was treated like a political football during the Bush years, with the troops getting shit on left, right and straight up the middle.

Abu Gharib? Hey, it was on the level of frat hazing ala "Animal House". I mean really, how bad was it? Yes the damned fools who perpetrated that idiocy were court-martialed and rightfully so. But come on, how much true pain and suffering were inflicted?

But to hear the media and those gunning for Bush's head, you'd have thought it was on a par with Dachau.

Gitmo? Hey, wasn't our present Commander-in-Chief elected with the promise to shut the place down? Hows that going? Truth to tell, the supposedly heinous conditions suffered by the inmates are so bad, the military has brought in a dietitian because so many have become obese. Yep, another concentration camp in the making. Noted.

But all the critics would have you believe our military was taking sadistic pleasure in torturing those "poor souls".

How about Haditha? The NCIS was hellbent for leather to prosecute and convict 8 Marines based solely on the testimony given by relatives of the Iraqis killed in that incident. Thankfully, the courts-martial have seen through the bullshit and dismissed all charges.

The military of this nation is routinely treated like a sociological petri dish for all types of PC experimentation (repeal of DADT comes to mind), they're micromanaged and Monday morning quarterbacked every step of the way. Thats just in peace time. When they're sent off to war by their civilian bosses (including you and I) they're viewed as baby-killing, sadistic, torture prone mental misfits who are employed in a government workfare program. They're never left to do their job, they're harassed, criticized, denigrated, and denied the respect we would show to homeless bums panhandling for their next fix.

Our troops have been treated like shit from the get go, trying to do their damned job the best way they could and getting shit on in the process.

Now they're leaving Iraq, an Iraq with a constitution that recognizes the primacy of sharia law, an Iraq where Christians are increasingly persecuted, an Iraq that you can bet will fall into the Islamonazi orbit within six months of our departure.

Gee, I'll bet those military who served there (some of them for multiple tours) are really satisfied. They know it was worth their separation from home, their comrades' deaths and maiming, the completion disruption of their own lives.

Yep, they'll look at what they're leaving, recall how they had to operate there and under what kind of PC micromanagement and slap one another on the back with a "Well Done" on their lips.

My ass.

We've the best damned military in the world, the most professional, compassionate warriors anyone could hope to encounter. We treat them like shit.

While they've been at war we've been at the mall.

God help this nation, we really suck.