This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A band of crooks and criminals, seeking monumental benefit in war, invaded under false pretenses, in absolute illegality and in defiance of civilized conscience, a sovereign nation which was long subdued by the actions of previous warlords. The self-proclaimed "liberators" killed the innocent "collaterally," invaded people's privacy, overstepped their dignity, destroyed the heritage of humanity with their firepower, shattered the environment and plundered the natural resources.
They wasted trillions of dollars and stole billions. They wasted 4,700 brave American and countless Iraqi lives, and the result was a civil war, as was the prediction of all the sane and intelligent individuals.
Now, our drone-happy President is under the illusion that he can find a "political solution" to overcome a 14-century-old animosity between the Sunnis and the Shiites and force them to compromise and reconcile. Good luck.
And John McCain, with his Napoleon complex proposes to bomb them, as he does in every other troubled corner of the world. Somehow, having spent the majority of his military service as a war prisoner qualifies him to be an expert on and a spokesman for everything military and foreign policy.
Not one more dollar or a single American life should be wasted in Iraq. Let them kill each other until, some day, on their own, they come to realize "that too many people have died."
Behrouz Motiee
Salt Lake City