Based on poll numbers, most Americans are warming up to the idea of getting the hell out of Iraq. For many of us we've been on this particular band wagon for a while now. It's impossible to have a complete discussion of the situation without acknowledging the loss of life suffered by Americans and Iraqis alike. But oddly, the decision to go into Iraq was so fundamentally flawed that one needn't look beyond the cold hard numbers to see what a colossal mistake we've made.
Even conservative estimates find that $3 trillion will be spent on efforts in Iraq and we haven't created a more stable situation. There is no stable government. Indeed, we've created a situation where no matter how desperately Americans now want out - at least an immediate, complete exit doesn't seem feasible. But, even acknowledging that fact doesn't change the assessment that we are wasting our resources. Afghanistan is increasingly dangerous and falling back into the hands of terrorists. We haven't stopped Al Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden. And none of this even begins to factor in the shear waste that has occurred in Iraq.
NBC news is reporting the most recent - and to date most egregious - example of such waste. We spent $40 million dollars building a prison in the Iraqi desert that was never used and stands empty. The prison was part of original "plans" to provide Iraq with a security base of its own and was supposed to be used by Iraqi forces. The problem? Iraq didn't want it. So eventually work was stopped. The site was abandoned. It is unguarded. And as if the monetary and physical resources used up in the prison's construction weren't enough to make those of us wishing for a better school to which to send our child or for a healthcare system that covers everyone sick, when we decided to just quit the cause and leave . . . we left $1.2 million worth of supplies there that have since disappeared. But I'm sure the "good" guys got those resources.
