Do Nobel Peace Prizes Blush?

Dear Mr. President,
Washington’s silence on the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq is not unexpected. No one wants to talk about defeat but defeat it was. After 2 trillion U.S. taxpayer dollars and 4,486 U.S. casualties (plus 30,000 wounded), here’s what the war reaped: 190,000 to 600,000 Iraqis killed, their infrastructure, culture and government destroyed, one strongman dictator (Hussein) replaced by another (al-Maliki), millions displaced, widespread poverty, hunger and pain. Contrary to Bush and the neocons’ prediction of easy victory and a peaceful and free Iraq that would “be a model of democracy and stability,” Iraq today is torn by civil strife and sectarian violence (yesterday alone, 17 car bombs, 2 adhesive bombs and a shooting killed 57 and wounded 190); Iraq is an ally of Iran not the U.S.; al-Maliki is arresting Sunni government officials including his own VP on charges of terrorism; Iraqi oil contracts are going to China, not the U.S.; and the entire region has been destabilized. The war was based on lies and deceit; Iraq was not a threat and the invasion was not warranted but 10 years later we have learned nothing from this disaster. Once elected, you betrayed America by refusing to investigate the Bush administration’s war crimes—not a single person has been held responsible for the carnage, the violence, the torture, the crimes against humanity. Your refusal to have a public discussion of the causes of 9/11 or the Iraq war or the war in Afghanistan guarantees that, in our blind arrogance we will repeat the mistakes of the past. Someone asked me today if I still thought you were the worst president ever, even worse than Bush, and I said yes. You could have stopped the war in Afghanistan in 2009 but instead expanded it. You could have changed foreign policy to prevent future 9/11s but didn’t. You could have stopped the erosion of liberty and democracy by vetoing legislation like the NDAA, the Patriot Act, etc. but you signed them all. You could have investigated and held accountable those responsible for torture and war crimes but gave them a free pass while prosecuting whistle-blowers like John Kirakou who revealed the CIA’s use of waterboarding and Bradley Manning who exposed war crimes by the military and duplicity by the government. You could have ended drone strikes and targeted assassinations but instead you expanded and institutionalized them. Throw a shroud over that Nobel Peace Prize, Mr. President, it’s blushing from shame.