Show me the money... SHOW me the MONEY
Well he's finally set a date to go - my Brother's Birthday as it happens.
All that's left for him to do is to pick up his Congressional Medal of Honour (the proud American servicemen who have died valiantly to earn that medal with their blood and self-sacrifice must be turning in their graves), and then hit the US lecture circuit.
Bet we don't see too much of his earnings going to relieve the poor and needy, or to help out the 1 Million British kids still living in poverty after his 10 years of misrule. I guess he'll need the endless wonga to keep him and his grasping wife from being bankrupted by their 5 Million-plus mortgage.
Perhaps he can join Prezza on a ranch somewhere in Texas. Anything that keeps those two out of the UK would have my full support. I'd even cough up a contribution to make it happen - his taxes have bled me dry already so he may as well have my shirt too.
Actually, now that he's not so wrapped up in being an MP and PM, perhaps he'll have the time to pop down to his local TA Centre. Last I heard, he'd still be eligible to join at his age.
He can put his money (or preferably life) where his mouth has been, and take a more 'active' role in the war against terror. He'd even have a choice of posting - Basrah or Hellmand Province.
Any bets on that happening either?
Four Years On...
Today is the 4th Anniversary of the 2nd Gulf War.
I'm not a pacifist - I strongly support our Armed Forces and do not believe that ALL wars are unjustified or immoral..
..but this one is.
To date, the death toll in Iraq reads as follows:
British Forces: 133
US Forces: 3,200
Iraqi Nationals: ???,000 (an estimated
minimum of 56,000 to date)
The war is costing the US Government somewhere close to $200 Million USD a day, or $6 Billion USD a Month.
By the end of this fiscal year (September 2007) the US will have spent somewhere in the region of $456 Billion USD on Iraq.
Some analysts estimate the final cost to the US will be close to $2.5 Trillion USD (when long term expenditure such as ongoing care for those wounded in battle is factored in).
Figures for the UK don't seem to be so readily available, but the MOD estimates that we will have spent over £5 Billion GBP by the end of this financial year. That only allows for direct costs (ie fuel, ammunition, repairs to equipment etc) and doesn't include caring for wounded Service personnel.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, and a lot of the true costs haven't yet become apparent. One that impacts on our daily lives is all too obvious though - the price of Oil.
Every time you fill up your car with petrol, you can thank TB and Dubya for the extra pounds or dollars you're paying. The instability caused by the Gulf War conflict is largely to blame for the stratospheric rise in the price of Brent Crude.
These massive costs, human and fiscal, don't seem to have achieved too much either - at least not in my opinion. For instance:
Did we find WMD and did we prevent Saddam from using it?
Have we made life more tolerable for the majority of the Iraqi population?
Have we brought stability to the region as a whole?
Have our country's interests been furthered?
Have we prevented the use of torture in Iraq?
Are we now more secure than we were in 2003?
So many human lives have been sacrificed, and so much of our money spent, for so little - for a war so unjustified and immoral that 'evidence' had to be fabricated to get the support of Parliament.
What a great legacy for Tony to leave behind.
