Iraq consists of three opposing groups, all of whom hate each other: the Kurds, the Sunni Muslims, and the Shiite Muslims. As predicted by knowledgeable persons before the war started, removing Saddam Hussein destabilized the region. The Bush administration lied to the American public, saying that Iraq had "weapons of mass destruction" and that it was a military threat to the United States. Now Bush claims that the invasion of Iraq was necessary to "root out terrorism."

The American occupation has destroyed Iraq's infrastructure (electric power systems, water distribution, sewage treatment, communications, etc.). American military forces have killed thousands of Iraqi citizens, and are continuing to kill Iraqi non-combatants. This has enraged the Muslim world. Its seething hatred against the United States will continue to engender more and more terrorist plots against us. Heavy handed military action like the recent "operation iron hammer" directed against so-called "training camps" and "insurgent headquarters" only increases the threat of terrorist activity.

The notion that we can control and protect our thousands of bridges, utilities, and border crossings from terrorist attacks is pure folly. It is just not possible to search every person using our ferries. It is not possible to inspect the contents of every one of the thousands of cargo containers arriving each day in our shipping ports. It is not possible to conduct a 24 hour surveillance of every bridge, every office building, every shopping mall, and every train station.

We have a President who doesn't have the character or intelligence to admit he was wrong, and that has cost the United States more than a hundred billion dollars and billions more to come. This money could be better spent to improve the lives of U. S. citizens. Bush's foolhardy dreams of grandeur has taken the lives of hundreds of U. S. service men and women. (Yes, women in the military have also been killed.)