Silence of the Lions

Today is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by the United States and a few allies, most notably, the British. The cause for that war -- Saddam Hussein's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction and the absurd allegation that he was somehow complicit in the September 11, 2011 attacks on America -- have long since been repudiated.

The war and occupation and counter-insurgency in Iraq cost more than 4,500 American lives, tens of thousands of American wounded and more than 100,000 Iraqi dead and hundreds of thousands more Iraqis displaced in their own country or living as refugees in neighboring countries. The Iraq experience cost American taxpayers about one trillion dollars, substantial parts of which were wasted on graft, overcharges by contractors and simple abandonment of projects and equipment. Iraq is not at peace. Only this morning, almost 50 Iraqis were killed in a car bomb attack in Baghdad.

So what do the lions of March 2003 who led us into Iraq with shock and awe and extraordinary bombast have to sayabout it today? Nothing.

President George W. Bush: Silent.
Vice President Dick Cheney: Silent
Defense Secretary Donald rumsfeld: Silent

And what does one hear about the Iraq experience from the neo-cons who clamored for it? Not much. They're too busy burrowing around, building their case for going to war against Iran.

New Leadership Everywhere

Interesting confluence of events in the last 24 hours: Roman Catholics get a new pope. China formally gets a new leader. Israel gets a new government -- same prime minister, unfortunately, but a coalition without the Jewish state's worst religious fanatics. Let's hope for the best on all fronts.