Here we are, almost at the end of the year 2011. After eight and a half long years, millions of lives lost, leaving a country visibly unrecognizable from 2003, trillions of dollars gone, Obama has called an end to the Iraq war, so that must be it then?



How it all began

After the 9/11 attacks, spun by the Powers That Be (PTB) as "terrorist attacks" by Muslim extremists, the War on Terror™ began. As a 'subwar', the invasion and occupation of Iraq was initiated after the governments of US and UK accused Iraq of employing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that it imposed a threat to their "sovereign nations". Of course, the claim that Iraq was harboring WMDs was later completely dismissed and no such weapons were ever found. After the questionable capture and execution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the Western governments began justifying their occupation of Iraq as "bringing democracy" to the country.

Now, almost nine years later the US army are exiting the country after being asked to leave by the Iraqi government for several years. One would assume that if the Iraqi government wasn't so adamant that the US leave Iraqi soil, the US would probably never leave. But this "leave" is only on the surface and most likely a political stunt by the Obama administration before the 2012 presidential elections; so as to state that Obama actually ended the war. But in actuality the US has no intention of leaving Iraq and they are most definitely maintaining a presence there.

© Agence France-Presse
The US embassy in Iraq
Is it really over?

As it stands The US is planning on keeping roughly 15,000 personnel in the US embassy located in Baghdad which is as big as Vatican City. This number does not include several thousands of private security contractors and mercenaries nor hundreds if not thousands of undercover CIA agents who are also staying in Iraq.

Upon calling the troops home, Obama stated that, "history would judge the US decision to invade Iraq and of course what has been achieved from this war."

Well history doesn't have to, because anyone with a conscience could tell you that the Iraq invasion was as with any invasion - a crime. But this one especially since the reason for the invasion (presence of WMDs in Iraq) was a complete fabrication brought about by the Neo-Cons and their lackeys.

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Pfc. Lynndie England holds a leash attached to a detainee in late 2003 at the Abu Gharib prison in Baghdad, Iraq.
In fact, just in November of this year, George W. Bush and Tony Blair were found guilty of war crimes by a Tribunal in Malaysia. So no, we don't have to look too far into history to understand the invasion of Iraq was a heinous crime committed by psychopathic men who don't possess a conscience. But of course none of that means anything in the Western world, bombarded by mainstream propaganda news who are themselves owned by such men. Even so, the atrocities committed in Iraq were so great that even the MSM couldn't keep the lid shut for long. And even after all this, most of the people in the US cannot admit to themselves that their government who promised to protect them from "terrorists" were the terrorists.

The Iraq war cost the US Trillions of dollars. As a result of it and other wars committed by the US, the US economy is in a dire shape with little hope of recovery. The veterans returning home from Iraq face a lot of hardships as the unemployment rate in the US is much higher than the purported 8.6 percent.

They are also returning to a different country. A country who has completely lost its liberty, and now considers their own citizens enemies of the state for questioning the government. I can't help but see the irony in this. These veterans went to Iraq to 'save people from "terrorists"' and yet the terrorists was their own government, bankers, and the corporate elite. And now, should even they question what has become of their country, they may end up in Guantanao Bay for posting questions that are not supposed to be asked.

The future is uncertain for these veterans but not so for the psychopathic government of US. They have already set the table for what may be their next target, but which one will it be?

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Who's Next?

So now that the Iraq war is "over", who in the Middle East will be next on Santa's list of invasion? Will it be Syria or Iran?

Iran is a good possibility. As with Iraq, the US seems to be following the same pattern of accusing Iran of harboring WMDs. The US is also being pressured to start a war with Iran by Israel, to whom they hold more than close ties.

Reports are also coming in that US and NATO troops have entered Jordan right next to the Syrian border. Could this be a start of something there?

Wherever is the next target, one thing is certain, the US's reign of tyranny over the Middle East is far from over; and it won't be over until the American people rise up against their own government. Not only to protest their own domestic losses, but that of the world the US has trampled on for far too long. Refuse to participate in the elections, refuse to pay taxes, refuse to give to the corporate machine. Demand that all those responsible for war crimes be put into prison and figure out once and for all who was really behind 9/11. Then and only then, will we have some hope of salvation. You may say that's a dream; a dream too far to seem real, but there have been others who've had greater dreams than I.