Iraq War like WWII?

I sure as hell hope not. Bush recently likened our current war to World War II in a commencement address to Air Force Academy graduates.

Let's recap, shall we:
WWII: went to war to stop genocide, torture, constant bombing of the UK and the invasion and destruction of several countries, not to mention Pearl Harbor
Iraq: WMDs (that don't exist), ousting a cruel dictator that we a) helped bring to power in the 60s and b) saw no reason to take out of power the last time we had a war with the country more than 10 years ago.

Likening Iraq to World War II, frankly, lessens the gravity and significance of the sacrifices and horrors of World War II. The entire free world and the Soviet Union combined in one effort for a war that could not be lost, with casualties into the millions on all sides.

The war in Iraq couldn't be more different that WWII. Instead of the whole world with us, we hardly have any allies. Our closest ally, the UK, only has 12,000 troops in Iraq, less than 10% of our 130,000+ deployment there. It appears that the rest of the "coalition of the willing," isn't terribly willing, with most countries contributing significantly less than the UK even. Our false pretences for entering into the war don't help, but our default reasoning that Saddam was a brutal dictator who tortured his people, is highly weakened by the torture committed at the hands of the US.

Furthermore, I hope the war in Iraq never approaches the likeness of World War II. With over 812 US servicemen and women already killed in Iraq and over 2,000 wounded, over $200 million US dollars pumped into Iraq while teachers are laid off and seniors kicked off of Medicare, our sacrifice is already too grave.

posted by Sarai @ 10:25 PM