BUSH'S WAR ON IRAQ IS OVER. WHAT GOOD DID IT DO?

"Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?

They leave that role to the poor..."

War Pigs, by Black Sabbath

By Juan Montoya

The war in Iraq was forcefully brought home to Brownsville when we learned of that local resident Kristian Menchaca – a PFC in the U.S. Army – was abducted from a security checkpoint by Iraqi insurgents and then tortured and beheaded and the video put on the Internet for the world to see.

In all, it is estimated that 38 South Texas soldiers died in Iraq, the majority from Rio Grande Valley.

Menchaca died June 19, 2006 and was tortured, killed, and mutilated by Al-Qaeda in Iraq. On July 10, 2006, a video showing the bodies of Menchaca and Thomas Tucker was posted on an extremist website, purportedly by al-Qaida in Iraq. Although the video does not show the actual executions, it shows the two corpses laid out on a road and being taunted by the alleged captors, who present the head of Thomas Tucker to the camera like a trophy, and stomp on the head of Kristian Menchaca.

The Mujahideen Shura Council later claimed the killings to be in revenge for the rape and murder of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi March 12 earlier that year.

Later that year, on September 23, 2006, a second mutilation video of the two soldiers was broadcast on the Internet. It shows the two soldiers being dragged on the streets and their bodies being set on fire. Thomas's head is kicked by an insurgent.

At the time of Manchaca's killing, the the war was at its worst. The U.S. had 239,000 men and women in uniform stationed in more than 500 bases sprinkled throughout Iraq. Another 135,000 contractors were working in Iraq.

And even now as the pullout ordered by President Barack Obama has taken place, the U.S. will still maintain a presence in Iraq: hundreds of nonmilitary personnel, including 1,700 diplomats, law enforcement officers, and economic, agricultural and other experts, according to the State Department.
In addition, 5,000 security contractors will protect Americans and another 4,500 contractors will serve in other roles.
Menchaca's relatives at the time of his death, first said that the young man had tried to make a living working for minimum wage at the local Wendy's hamburger franchise but that the lure of a singing bonus and a good paycheck motivated him to join the military. A few days after that was broadcast, military spin-masters had changed that message and the family now stated that he was there to defend the freedom of Americans and of the Iraqi people.
According to the defense department, 4,487 service members were killed in the war and more than 30,000 were wounded. In all, 1.5 million Americans served this country in the war that cost the nation more than $800 billion.

On the Iraqi side, the cost in human life was even more staggering. On October 22, 2010, ABC News reported "a secret U.S. government tally that puts the Iraqi (civilian) death toll over 100,000," information that was included in more than 400,000 military documents released by Wikileaks.com. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian causalities at over 600,000.

For many of us, the war in Iraq officially came to an end with the ceremony in Baghdad. But for more than 2,000 widows and families of military personnel killed in the fighting, the war in Iraq will never be truly over.

The same applies to the lists of casualties:

U.S. Troop Casualties - 4,486 US troops;

98 percent male.

91 percent non-officers;

82 percent active duty,

11 percent National Guard;

74 percent Caucasian,

9 percent African-American,

11 percent Latino.

Fifty-four percent (54%)  were under 25 years old.

Who won in Iraq? During the election held recently, the apparent victors of our efforts were the Iran-backed Shiite militants and their radical Muslim supporters in the country. In other words, we cleared the way with our blood and treasure for our sworn for them to take over when our troops leave.

And there are also other winners – the Pigs of War.

Spent and Approved War-Spending: About $1 trillion of  taxpayers' funds spent or approved for spending through 2011.

Lost and Unaccounted for in Iraq: $9 billion of U.S. taxpayers' money and $549.7 million in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors.

Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.

Lost and Reported Stolen; $6.6 billion of U.S. taxpayers' money earmarked for Iraq reconstruction, reported on June 14, 2011 by Special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction Stuart Bowen who called it "the largest theft of funds in national history." (Source - CBS News)

Last known holder of the $6.6 billion lost: the U.S. government.

Missing : $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)

Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq: $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings

Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported: $1.4 billion

Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items: $20 billion

Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem "questionable or unsupportable": $3.2 billion

U.S. 2009 Monthly Spending in Iraq: $7.3 billion as of Oct 2009

U.S. 2008 Monthly Spending in Iraq: $12 billion

U.S. Spending per Second: $5,000 in 2008 (per Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on May 5, 2008)

Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq: $390,000

Ever wonder what would have happened if we could have provided PFC Menchaca and the other 4,500 who died with him in Iraq with a good-paying job instead of sending them to fight an unjustifiable political war?