Anyone know anything good the Iraq war has done for the U.S. as a whole?

[The Straight Story]

Anything? I am sure some have profited off it of course, we knew that would happen. But overall, what have we as a people and a nation gained from this war??

We have lost many lives (and many more wounded physically and psychologically), money, oil prices are up, and we still have terrorism worries (more so now then before it seems).

And how many soldiers have died? Now multiply that number by how many family members have been affected by that loss. How many wounded or scarred mentally for life (which will also affect their families)?

For all this pain and suffering (just on the US side alone, not to mention Iraq and other countries involved) what in the hell have we really gained????

Come on neo-cons, I know you are out there lurking. Tell me, someone, anyone, what we have gained that has been worth the price.

[henslee]

1. I remember footage of a G.I teaching Iraqi kids how to rap... so I guess

you could say it helped hip hop industry... spread its influence.

[uppityperson]

2. nothing I can think of.

Mr.bush has united the world. That is all.

[SeaRust]

3. Halliburton Managers get big bonus checks?

nt

[Son of California]

4. I suggest this one silver lining:

That in the end this war will seriously damage and set back, not only the Republican Party, but the NeoCon Movement and the Religious Right. All three of these ugly bed fellows will be eating the same humble pie by the time this war is over. Was it worth the all the loss of life? -no. But maybe in the grand scheme of things, that sacrifice will contribute to a much different outcome than anyone had hoped, and maybe in the end, they really will haved died to defend our freedom.

[Badger1]

5. To defend my freedom?

I had much more freedom before monkey man waged this illegal and wrong war. We all did.

[Just Me]

7. Perhaps, these bastards forced us all to know what freedom ISN'T,...

,..."freedom" is NOT being exploited by those who would SPEND us solely for the purpose of empowering themselves.

[Just Me]

6. No. The Iraq war was/is an example of human exploitation,....

,...by scuzzy, amoral, profiteering assholes,...EXCLAMATION POINT.

[Ian David]

8. We've added a whole bunch of IEDs to our training manuals

So now, we can teach other insurgents how to use them against our enemies.

Until those insurgencies over-throw their government and install a new regime that hates us anyway.

[cliss]

9. OK, here goes - (takes a deep breath)

The United States is now an Empire. We have been more, or less, for seveal decades. Now that our economy is faltering and our dependence on foreign oil has become more desperate, it's just a little bit more obvious. More out in the open.

According to CounterPunch, Bush and his cronies are the ones who will hasten our demise, they will bring down the Empire on its head, so to speak. Because we are taking assets from poor countries and hurting a lot of people in the process, it's coming to an end.

The US is a mature economy. It's not robust any more. It's not really growing. It was bound to happen sooner or later; Bush because of his extreme incompetence, will make it sooner.

[FloridaPat]

10. Our economy hasn't collapsed because of the ME trading oil in Euros.

Of course every day * is getting us closer to WW3 with nuclear weapons, but we still have our SUV's.

And don't forget all that money going to defense contrators. I wonder if the Bushies are still invested in the Carlyle Group.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

11. it's a good gauge of who is paying attention

and who is a fucking idiot. i guess that's a good thing.

[firefox]

12. It has created a new highwater mark for blunders

Iraq probably exceeds the ill-named War on Drugs as the bigget blunder ever by American government. The longer the war persists the more the world will reject American products forever, even if we had something competitive we could export. Afganistan broke the treasury of the USSR and we have done that with the addition of Iraq. When we should have been waging peace and calling for the Freedom from Fear that FDR spoke of in his Four Freedoms, we have initiated a new weapons race that is destructive enough even if the weapons never see an unleashing in an unbelievable war of unbelievable destruction.

[lonestarnot]

13. Not one fucking thing! Not one!

[Zorra]

14. No....but I definitely know what it has done for the US as a hole.

1820 holes where American soldiers are buried, and one gigantic hole where Bu*h has thrown $200 billion of our taxpayer money with way less than zero to show for it.