Public Employee Press

Letters to the editor
Five years and 4,000 deaths: End the war!

Today, as I write, it is the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, a war based on lies about weapons of mass destruction by George W. Bush. This war has now lasted longer than the Civil War or either World War.

Any day now we will pass another tragic landmark as the number of American men and women whose lives have been needlessly sacrificed tops 4,000. Tens of thousands have been wounded and many may spend the rest of their lives missing arms and legs and being treated for disabling brain and spinal injuries. Over 80,000 Iraqis have died, the vast majority of them civilians.

And the answer to the big question, “Are we any safer from terrorism?” is absolutely not.

The true cost of the war, which Bush has tried to hide, is over $3 trillion according to respected economists like Joseph Stiglitz. And most of that is debt that will have to be paid off by our children and grandchildren.

Gasoline is aimed for $4 a gallon and our economy is a wreck. If an investment banking house like Bear Sterns is in trouble, the Bush administration is right there to help with billions from the taxpayers, but the government doesn’t care when millions of Americans are deep in debt. There is only one answer: Democrats, independents and any Republicans who understand what’s happening must unite to kick out Bush and his right wingers and take back the White House for real Americans.

—Melissa Harris
Local 1549