Yesterday the U.S. Senate has voted down the restoration of Habeas Corpus rights for suspected terrorists, thus making it impossible for those people to challenge their indefinite detention. Refusing basic right such as Habeas Corpus to suspected criminals, together with a tacit approval of torture makes the U.S. the laughing stock of the rest of the civilized world. We are no longer respected and admired but ridiculed and feared. However, fear not! Because today the Senate has been able to pass a glorious resolution in response to a MoveOn newspaper add. This resolution condemns "personal attacks on the honor and integrity of Gen. Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces." Oh happy day. The same Senate that yesterday denied our troop to have at least a 1:1 ratio between time on duty and time at home now takes on the defender-of-the- troops role. I am sure our troops and their families appreciate this hypocrisy.
Here’s to hoping that the next election will change the composition of the Senate sufficiently so that national priorities can be addressed.
Here some numbers:
- Number of Americans killed by Saddam Hussein: 0
- Number of Americans killed in the process of ousting Saddam Hussein and pacifying Iraq: 3700+
- Number of U.S troops currently in Iraq: 163,100.
- Number of U.S. paid contractors currently in Iraq: 180,000
Here some more numbers:
- Number of Americans without health insurance: 47 million (16%)
- Number of American children without health insurance: 10 million
- Percentage of Americans that do not graduate from high school: 29%
- Number of Americans living in poverty as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau: 35.9 Million
- Direct cost of the Iraq fiasco: US$ 500 billion so far.
- Current US national deficit (money we own other countries): US$ 9 Trillion. That’s $29,700 for each man, woman and child in the U.S. population.
