The Iraq Time Bomb

As a lame duck president announces a minuscule withdrawal of several thousand troops out of more than 140,000 by next March, the rising suicide rate of active-duty soldiers and returning veterans offers a glimpse of the time bomb George W. Bush is leaving behind in American life with a misbegotten war that has killed 4155, wounded more than 30,000 and psychically scarred who-knows-how-many young men and women for years to come.

For what? To fulfill the pipe dreams of armchair Neo-Con warriors who never wore a uniform, drain more than half a trillion dollars from a sagging economy and allow John McCain to campaign for president wearing a Navy cap and prattle about "victory" in an occupation with no end in sight.

As the Army suicide rate threatens to surpass that of the general population, the Secretary of the Army admits, "Army leaders are fully aware that repeated deployments have led to increased distress and anxiety for both soldiers and their families. This stress on the force is validated by recent studies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression."

How did this abomination of a war that led outraged voters to take away Republican control of Congress less than two years ago recede into an abstraction that barely registers on their list of concerns now?

How did all the blood and emotional distress of the past five years and the pain of years to come suddenly fade from consciousness.

As we mourn the victims of 9/11 tomorrow, we should give some thought to those who have died since and those yet to die from a failure of American leadership after that trauma.