I  saw something on the news last night that upset me so much  I am motivated to write my first internet blog ever. I doubt anyone will read this so I’m going for it, though I’m a nurse not a writer.
 The news story was about US troops breaking into a house in Hadith last November, the justification for which is now being investigated, as 15 innocent civilians were killed in the raid.  US troops state the raid on the home was initiated by an IED explosion which killed a soldier, followed by gunfire at the troops coming from the area of the home.   Now, many will argue about whether their response was justified or not but the fact is, these kinds of things happen in a war.  War is not neat and clean.  Things aren’t always clear.  Ugly things happen.   Soldiers and civilians alike fear for and too often lose their lives.  There is noise and confusion and there are misunderstandings and miscommunications, especially when the two sides don’t speak the same language. 
In fact, I have always been against the US invading Iraq primarily because in a war, people die.  Newsflash:  war is death and destruction, as in “It’s  good that war is hell, lest we grow too fond of it.”  Having done trauma nursing for 16 years I’ve seen my share of gunshot victims as well as victims of other forms of violence and trust me, it ain’t pretty in real life.  Neither is the aftermath of grief and sorrow.  Unfortunately too many people don’t seem to think about this.  Instead, they make excuses for why they must fight.
Oh, right,  the war on terror.  Yet bin Laden, who has forever destroyed American life as we knew it, remains free to pop up every now and again,  so cheeky as to impose himself on our electoral process, offer us deals, and even with the audacity to lecture Americans on what books to read! (Like, sure buddy, I’ll read the Rogue State by William Blum if you read the New Testament by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  A la Howie Mandel,  Deal…or No Deal?)
And so, from the beginning, I had an unshakable feeling that invading Iraq was a bad idea. Why couldn’t they just concentrate on bin Laden, the one who’s trying to take us down? Besides that, how did they expect to walk-or rather bomb their way into this country that has done nothing to us and with whom we have nothing  in common except a mutual lack of cultural understanding, take out the power structure then cleanly set up a new government? I mean, just saying it sounds silly.   My instincts told me it would become another Vietnam.  
But, with President Bush’s Top Gun declaration of Mission Accomplished, I had some hope it wouldn’t.  Yes, hoping my intuitions were wrong and Mr. Bush was right, I waited for the restoration of calm in Iraq and the US troops to return home.  When it didn’t and they didn’t, I went back to thinking that we were going the way of Vietnam.  When the number of troops killed hit 200,  I told friends that I believed that this war would drag on and that one day the number of American troops killed in Iraq would equal and then surpass the number of Americans who died on September 11, 2001.  
 Now that day is getting closer and closer.   Tears for sure on the day it comes.
The upsetting news report I  saw last night said that the surviving family members of the tragic Hadith incident were compensated with $2500 from the US  for each person who died.  Then it showed a little Iraqi girl,  who had seen her father being shot and who lost 7 of her family members.  Through the translator she was saying,  “ I hate them.  They kill people then say they are sorry. I hate the Americans.  The whole world hates the Americans for what they’ve done here.”

 Her words gave me the chills. Out of the mouths of babes.   In addition to the death and destruction of war, I could now add lasting hatred and animosity between peoples.  Hearts and minds? Yeah right.  Hard to win hearts and minds with a gun in your hand.  Behind that one little girl’s words,  there’s a much bigger picture.  This terrible war started by George Bush for no good reason may well create a  generation of  Iraqi children who feel this way about us. “ I hate the Americans”.  If things continue the way they are going in Iraq and without  major diplomatic interventions, Mr. Bush will have brilliantly  succeeded at insuring that there will be plenty of enemies for our children to face in the future. So much for the war on terror.