The Iraq Invasion

Picture this:

A quiet, thriving community somewhere in America, called Greensville.

Everybody in Greensville is getting along, prospering, the crime rate is non-existent and generally life is good for all.

Then, one day, the unthinkable happens.
Mr. Smith comes home one day to find his property has been broken into and his beloved wife of 25 years has been raped and murdered.

The town is in uproar. The city officials are scrambling to find the answer to the question that’s on everyone’s mind.

and “I saw the Brown’s guy show off his new gun just the other day”.

Everyone is scratching their heads.

The citizens of Greensville need  SOMEONE to pin this on.  Doesn't  have to be the right person, but SOMEBODY has to pay for this horrible act of violence!

Their view of their peaceful community has changed and they don’t like it.

They especially don’t like the idea that someone from their own community could have committed such an atrocious crime.

The investigation continues.
Wait a minute. There was a story in the newspaper recently that in another community, in another county there was a street gang that apparently was up to no good.

The investigators turn their attention to this street gang. Oh, they do regularly vandalize houses in all kinds of communities and kill people.... it must be them!

As more evidence gathers, it becomes clear that it must have been them, who else could it be?

Wonder where they get all their weapons??
Further investigation reveals shocking news. This street gang is working for the mayor of their town! AND he supplies all the weapons and tools for their crimes!

Unheard of. Outraged, the authorities go to court and obtain a search warrant for this mayor’s house.
Surely, when they find all the weapons he’d allegedly been supplying to this street gang, that’ll be proof that this gang was indeed responsible for disturbing the peace in Greensville.

They ask the mayor if these rumors were indeed true, but he’s so shocked and indignant, he refuses to answer. Back and forth they argue, and he doesn't’ seem to think he has to prove himself.
After all, in America, you’re innocent till proven guilty, right?

Armed with their search warrant, Greenville’s Swat team and an army of police officers now round up the mayor’s house in full gear.

They search and they search, they bust down walls, floors, ceilings...they trash the place, but to no avail...Try as they might, they can’t find anything out of the ordinary.

The mayor and his family are not impressed and are trying to fight back, since they really are innocent, but they’re not equipped or prepared to do so.

The police, now enraged by not “accomplishing their mission of finding these weapons”,
start shooting the whole family.

You’d think they would have left as soon as they found out that the mayor really didn't
hide anything, right?

Well, in our story things get uglier and uglier. Soon the mayor’s neighbors are also outraged and get involved with the fight. Soon, everyone is killing each other.

Meanwhile, back in Greensville, the people are told “don’t worry, we have the bad guys, we  took the mayor and we’re dealing with those nasty neighbors that butted in."

"Soon, you can go back to feeling like nothing can happen to you, but while this is going on,
better watch your back, in case the neighbors from the other town come to Greensville and start taking it out on YOU!"

Now, the people of Greensville are really worried. What’s taking so long?

The mayor is dead, isn't he? Why are his neighbors so mad?

Then they slowly find out, that the police never did find anything in his house, but it’s too late, everyone is really mad now.

The neighbors in the other town are now killing all the police Greensville had sent, so Greensville has to send more and more officers to deal with the neighbors.

Those neighbors are also killing each other now - like it happens in a mob mentality.
Nothing is getting resolved and we still don’t know who raped and killed Mrs. Smith.

Sound familiar??

I know you can’t really compare the scale of a small town crime to the horrors of Sept 11, but the principles are the same.



Here are some sobering facts about the Iraq invasion.

Since the invasion on Mar 20/2003

CNN reports that 3,657 American troops have lost their lives in Iraq.

They say they’re not sure how many soldiers have been injured - the number is estimated to be between 23,000 and 100,000

According to the Washington Post, at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives because of the invasion, mostly women and children.