FU - FairAndUNbalanced.com

You supported the war in Iraq,” pointed out my conservative friend as he leaned forward aggressively. “And so did lots of your liberal politicians.”

And it is true. I supported the invasion of Iraq. And the invasion has cost.

• Thousands of brave service people killed. Volunteer heroes at the outset. Not so much volunteering on second and third tours – the unacknowledged draft.

• Tens of thousands injured severely, now under treated, sometimes mistreated.

• Hundreds of thousands of civilians killed in the lawless aftermath.

• US military families torn asunder.

• Trillions, better spent elsewhere, going into corporate pockets.

• The 9/11 murderers surrounded and cut off in Afghanistan, getting away because requested troops could not be spared as the administration prepared to invade Iraq.

• The loss of the ability to lead in even the best of causes.

And I supported the invasion. Me.

I was not impressed with allegations of chemical and biological weapons. It seemed to me that any country with an air force could easily counter those threats.

Humanitarianism was a closer call, for Saddam was brutal. But that was not the reason, either.

Mushroom clouds seemed a real enough possibility. So I supported the invasion because I didn't want Saddam to have nuclear weapons and it looked like he would get them soon enough to be a threat.

That turned out to be untrue.

Then I supported the invasion retrospectively because my President sincerely, though mistakenly, believed Saddam was about to get nuclear weapons on the basis of bad intelligence.

That also turned out to be untrue.

Pretty good joke on me and folks like me.

Tee hee. Good one, Mr. President.

Your turn.