What a simple lapse in judgment can cost.

[EndElectoral]

http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20130314&t=2&i=712681015&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=644&pl=429&sq=&r=CBRE92D151T00





http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314

The 2011 study said the combined cost of the wars was at least $3.7 trillion, based on actual expenditures from the U.S. Treasury and future commitments, such as the medical and disability claims of U.S. war veterans.

That estimate climbed to nearly $4 trillion in the update.

The estimated death toll from the three wars, previously at 224,000 to 258,000, increased to a range of 272,000 to 329,000 two years later.

Excluded were indirect deaths caused by the mass exodus of doctors and a devastated infrastructure, for example, while the costs left out trillions of dollars in interest the United States could pay over the next 40 years.

The interest on expenses for the Iraq war could amount to about $4 trillion during that period, the report said.

The report also examined the burden on U.S. veterans and their families, showing a deep social cost as well as an increase in spending on veterans. The 2011 study found U.S. medical and disability claims for veterans after a decade of war totaled $33 billion. Two years later, that number had risen to $134.7 billion.

FEW GAINS

The report concluded the United States gained little from the war while Iraq was traumatized by it. The war reinvigorated radical Islamist militants in the region, set back women's rights, and weakened an already precarious healthcare system, the report said. Meanwhile, the $212 billion reconstruction effort was largely a failure with most of that money spent on security or lost to waste and fraud, it said.

[Faux pas]

1. K N R-ed

[Silver_Witch]

2. Such a waste!

No one wins in war!

[lagomorph777]

3. Cheney won billions

And Hillary thought that was a great idea.

[reddread]

4. if that isnt a capital crime, wtf is?

I am steadfastly opposed to government murder and the death penalty.
but in these situations, deterrence my ass, some folks need to be punished appropriately.
I just dont think the government should be trusted with that power, quite obviously.
these war criminals need to be justly rewarded, and we need to atone as best we might.
reparations are inevitable. those trillions on the cost and the interest dont come close.

look what she did to us.

[Shemp Howard]

5. ANYONE who voted for that war should be ineligible for any office.

If you actually thought invading Iraq was a good idea, then you're a filthy warmonger. You should be ineligible for any office.

If you were mislead by Bush's flimsy "evidence", then you're too easily fooled. You should be ineligible for any office.

If you were against invading Iraq but supported it for political reasons, then you're a monster. You should be ineligible for any office.

[Martin Eden]

13. Those who voted for the IWR in October 2002 lost my vote forever (in D primaries)

I was especially disappointed when John Kerry -- who gained the national spotlight as leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War -- voted for it. I would not support him in the 2004 Democratic primary, but I went to Ohio to GOTV for Kerry because GW Bush belonged in prison, not the White House.

If it comes down to Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump, I will vote for the lesser evil yet again.

+1 for the 3 disqualifiers on the IWR vote:
1) On board with the neocon agenda (filthy warmonger, abysmal judgment)
2) Fooled by Bush (too incompetent to be a member of Congress let alone POTUS)
3) Knew the case for war was bogus, but calculated it was better for political career to look "tough" on "terror"

Hillary Clinton is either #1 or #3, perhaps a mix of both. She is a hawk, but political calculation probably would have swayed her regardless.

[Skwmom]

6. Bob Graham D-FL told his colleagues (including Clinton) "the blood's going to be on your hands"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022537424

[reddread]

9. GW had her four square support. despite expert advice from real representatives.

[niyad]

7. what simple lapse of judgement? this whole horrendous travesty was orchestrated from the start.

[Orsino]

8. 15+ years of war is policy, not a "lapse in judgment." n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Some of the "collateral damage" is that some people dismiss it just a "mistake".

Something akin to ringing the wrong doorbell or ordering pork shops at a vegan restaurant.

And, it wasn't a simple lapse of judgement, it was a calculated decision made for the sake of political expedience.

[Martin Eden]

14. Yes, it was a calculated decision

... but I think there may have been more to it than political expediency.

I don't think for one minute Hillary Clinton was fooled by the Bush administration's campaign of deceit to sell the war. She likely believed a yes vote would serve her very large political ambitions (political expediency) but I also suspect that she was on board with the neocon agenda. HRC's tenure as Secretary of State reveals her as an advocate for military intervention and regime change.

[reddread]

19. it was a decision made years previously

I made friends with an Air Force guy right before they shut down the nearest air base during those closures.
When he came back for a visit in 99 he told me there was absolutely no way we were not going into the middle east for something. All the logistical movements that had taken place, they dont move all of that for no reason.

this was a long term plan, and it stretched well into Clinton's terms and probably began while we were backing out of Iraq and Kuwait in 92, was it?

all I am saying, is this travesty didnt pop up out of random mistakedness.

[Martin Eden]

22. Definitey not random mistakedness

Regarding the first gulf war 90-91, we never backed out of there. The "temporary" bases in Saudi Arabia became permanent and we remained in Iraqi airspace enforcing the no-fly zone. One of bin Laden's big gripes was the US military presence on the sacred soil of the land of Mecca.

I'm not in the least surprised we began ramping up for increased military operations in the Middle East during Bill Clinton's term. Hillary no doubt knew what was going on.

Politicians come and go, but the power structure in Washington and the elites of wealth and power who put the politicians in office remain. Every couple years we have this prolonged electoral circus featuring the latest juicy controversies among the cast of characters competing in a reality show for the prize. The Powers That Be don't have absolute control over who wins or loses, but our so-called representative democracy is mostly a façade. We The People don't make the big decisions of war and peace or how the financial rules of the game are rigged to enable a few with big piles of money to make those piles even bigger.

[reddread]

23. they were only permanent until the Saudis truck bombed the place

they got the message.
killed my closest relative.
destroyed my family.
when it became fashionable they (the US govt) blamed Iran.

falsely.
like every other turd from their mouths.
theyre kind enough to shelve the lie now.
they will not be disclosing the truth.

[Martin Eden]

28. Sorry to hear what happened to your family

There are lies, damned lies, and unforgivable deadly lies.

There is no justice as long as war criminals continue to lead lives of privilege instead of incarceration.

[Fawke Em]

30. Thank you.

For all the words written about Trump's bigotry - which truly is evil, less is written about Clinton's. Clinton has done more to harm Muslim and Arab people than Trump has. She had voted to and supported bombing them.

My ex husband is a Jordanian-born Palestinian and is Muslim. Our son is half-Palestinian and still has aunts and uncles and other relatives in that region. Clinton didn't mention their existence in her speech to AIPAC. She truly doesn't give a damn about them, which is ever bit as bad as the idiot Trump who wants to deport them and/or keep them out of our country.

[Doctor_J]

11. And it keeps going with Honduras, Libya, Syria. If she makes it to the white house, I believe she

would escalate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well.

[felix_numinous]

12. Ignoring the millions of peace demonstrators

all over the WORLD including the US who knew this war was a sham from the start. I do not agree this war vote was done in ignorance--we all knew about the no bid contracts by then, and that the intent to invade was made prior to 911, 'No Blood for Oil' was a theme. We saw all those voting 'for' the war as sell outs, that was clear too.

Let us not forget or allow people to rewrite history. We were there.

[Martin Eden]

16. Bush referred to us as a "focus group"

As I recall, the biggest mass protests were in early 2003 when it was becoming increasingly obvious the war was going to be launched despite UN inspectors being allowed full access in Iraq.

If Bush exceeded the authority he was given and/or the stipulations in the IWR -- which many Hillary defenders insist -- where was Senator Clinton when Bush forced the UN inspectors to evacuate and Shock & Awe was imminent?

If we're to accept the notion Hillary believed Bush would act in good faith when she voted for the IWR, then she should have stepped forward as a leader with a strong voice against the imminent invasion when it became apparent Bush was not going to act in good faith or abide by what she believed was the intent of the IWR.

No. Hillary Clinton was not fooled. She was on board with this war, or lacked the political courage to oppose it.

[Armstead]

15. Even if not evil intent, the stupidity is inexcusable It was to be a short "no muss" victory

They told us it would be a "cakewalk." None of those pictures above...We would just drive a caravan through Iraq, hand Saddam an eviction notice, and Iraq would be transformed into a Jeffersonian democracy and new "business opportunity" overnight.

No muss no fuss.

Bernie and millions of others -- including journalists and other experts intimately familiar with the situation -- warned that it would be otherwise. They were ignored and dismissed.

[Martin Eden]

17. Abysmal judgment, at the very least

Foreign policy is often touted as Hillary Clinton's greatest qualification for the presidency, but it's the biggest strike against her in my book.

[Agony]

18. Hillary believes it is the Iraqi's people own fault…IOW another example of her effing POOR judgement

Hillary from ABC article in 2008.

"And I believe that at the same time that we have to make clear to the Iraqis that they have been given the greatest gift that a human being can give another human being – the gift of freedom. And it is up to them to decide how they will use that precious gift that has been paid for with the blood and sacrifice and treasure of the United States of America. "

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/hillary-and-the.html

not leadership material.

[reddread]

20. DSM says what?

[Agony]

31. I don't know but this should disqualify her, in any progressive sense, from leadership ...

fubar pathology full stop

[Dem2]

21. Bush was a stupid man

He lied us into war and he'll have to live with that. Cheney is Satan, so he doesn't care.

[hellofromreddit]

24. Lot of democrats went right along with that stupid man and satan.

Nobody gets off the hook.

[Dem2]

27. Yep

But we know who lied and who abused the permission slip he was given - Cheney-Bush.

[FlatBaroque]

25. Lapse in judgment, my hairy ass

Was Libya also a lapse in judgment? Was Honduras a lapse in Judgment? Was Syria a lapse in judgment? No Her is a certified agent of the MIC, and the dark, ugly, satanic force that rules our planet.

[B Calm]

26. K&R

[notadmblnd]

29. Hillary and her crew don't care. They'll never have any of their skin/kin in their twisted "games"

Cold blooded, uncaring mother fucking creatures that they are.

I don't believe in a god. But I hope somehow, somewhere, someday that they'll have to suffer for their bad judgment- equal to the suffering they've caused others.

[EndElectoral]

32. The pix speak much more than the bullshit. Here's some of the bullshit.

http://inthesetimes.com/article/18813/the-five-lamest-excuses-for-hillary-clintons-vote-to-invade-iraq

Here they are, in no particular order. (read more at the link)

1. “Hillary Clinton’s vote wasn’t for war, but simply to pressure Saddam Hussein to allow UN weapons inspectors back into Iraq.”
2. “Nearly everyone in Congress supported the invasion of Iraq, including most Democrats.”
3. “Her vote was simply a mistake.”
4. “She voted for the war because she felt it was politically necessary.”
5. “She thought Iraq had ‘weapons of mass destruction’ and was supporting Al-Qaeda.”