The bloodshed continues

The bloodshed in Iraq has no shown no signs of abating with yet another string of suicide bombings killing 45 people on Monday. The total body count in Iraq has now reached 3567 U.S troops and 72910 Iraqi civilians. The cost of the war could surpass an unprecedented 1 trillion dollars.

What was the benefit that the United States derived out of killing more than 75000 people and spending so much of their own money? True, Saddam Hussein was a ruthless man who mercilessly butchered anyone who dared to rise in rebellion against him. Using nerve gas to kill hundreds of thousands of Kurds was the vilest of all acts imaginable. But at least the ordinary civilians were unaffected during his time. People had uniterrupted access to power and water all day round. They did not have to live under the constant shadow of death looming over the horizon in the form of a stray U.S missile or suicide bomb attack to blow them to pieces. There may not have been happiness in Iraq under Saddam Hussien but there was stability.

The United States as a nation has gained absolutely nothing out of the Iraq invasion. America came under huge amounts of criticism and its quest for political hegemony in the region has won it countless enemies. The money spent on the invasion could have been used for more pressing issues like healthcare and education. According to Micheal Moore's latest documentary "Sicko", America is on number 38 of the list of the countries providing efficient healthcare to its citizens, which is even below Costa Rica. It is a pity that the world's richest nation has a trillion dollars to spend on war but so less to spend for the health of its own people.

On the other hand, individual politicians have reaped rich benefits from the Iraq war. Companies close to the Bush administration have been awarded several billion dollar contracts for reconstruction and oil exploration. Companies manufacturing defense equipment struck it rich with the demand so high. Money from these firms will surely flow into the campaign funds of several senior republican politicians when they face re-election in 2008.

The United nations which makes so much noise about the human rights violations all over the world has not yet found the nerve to put its foot down and issue a firm ultimatum to the United States setting a fixed deadline for troop withdrawal. How many more Iraqi civilians have to die before the Mr. George Bush realizes that its time to let the Iraqi people manage their own lives and try to rebuild their lives from the ruins this war has left Iraq in?