Thread: Hypocrisy

Wrote this essay one night, first ive ever written. so i decided id put it up here.

These days the United States government seems less focused on protecting the nation, and more on spreading hypocrisy, lies, double standards, corruption, and public deceit.

The U.S. government likes to say its current mission in Iraq was meant to spread peace, democracy and stability there and throughout the middle east. But if you look outside biased propaganda put out by government officials you will see an entirely different story. According to the respected humanitarian watchdog Human Rights Watch, the situation in Iraq has “deteriorated greatly in 2005.” The U.S. involvement has caused a spike in suicide bombings and insurgent attacks has not only lowered the standard of living in Iraq, but also the death rate. In fact, according to the British medical journal The Lancet and the Centre for Research on Globalization, the risk of death in Iraq after the 2003 invasion was 95% higher and the risk of violent death rose 58%. In pre-invasion Iraq the main causes of death were myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accidents, and other chronic disorders, whereas afterwards the leading cause of death was violence caused by coalition forces. The biggest casualties of the invasion were not ‘terrorists’ but in fact women and children, caused largely by air strikes which the government claimed were strategic. "Making conservative assumptions, we think that about 100,000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq," said by Les Roberts of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. What about the ‘stability’ the U.S. government promised? According to Human Rights Watch World Report 2006, "Efforts to boost economic reconstruction and the rebuilding of Iraq's devastated infrastructure continue to be hampered by general instability in the country and the level of violence caused by insurgency and counterinsurgency attacks." This so called stability is also proven a false idea when looking at Iraq’s current economic standpoint. Before the invasion the Iraqi dinar was equal to 3 U.S. dollars, but afterwards it took 1,500 dinar to equal one U.S. dollar. The price of goods also rose 1000%.This is an incredible example of inflation and shows the toll the U.S. is actually inflicting upon the people of Iraq. As this clearly shows, in no way was the invasion of Iraq beneficial to the citizens there, nor to the over 1,600 U.S. soldiers who have given their lives.

The Bush administration’s reasoning for the invasion of Iraq was to remove the weapons of mass destruction and chemical agents that Iraq was supposedly using to threaten world peace. Since the invasion no such weapons have been found. Not only this but it has been discovered that during the U.S. assault on the town of Fallujah American forces used the chemical weapon white phosphorus, a chemical weapon banned by international treaty. White phosphorus is a chemical that causes severe burning of flesh and will continue to burn until it reaches the bone. But it’s not just one administration’s fault, but the corruption of an entire political system. In 1997, under Clinton, the U.S. ratified the Chemical Weapons convention, which banned many weapons America still possessed. While the U.S. runs off accusing other countries of accusing WMD’s and threatening world peace, it still possesses around 2,200 nuclear warheads. On top of this the Bush administration refused to comply with a Russian request to limit nuclear stockpiles to 1,500 warheads and continues to research more advanced and deadly versions of current weapons. Who is really threatening world peace? Oh the hypocrisy…Iraq, invaded for possessing illegal weapons, and then attacked with these very same weapons.

It is obvious that the invasion of Iraq has accomplished nothing. Every reason the Bush administration has given for the attack has been proven to be nothing but false illusions for promoting the right wing agenda. It is time for Americans to call for the truth, for justice, and for a peaceful, democratic government.