The Winners and the Losers in the War in Iraq

Feb. 11, 2004

Pfc. Holly McGeogh won‘t be coming home from the war in Iraq. A 19-year-old truck mechanic from Taylor, Michigan, she was one of three soldiers killed when a homemade bomb exploded along the roadside as her U.S. Army convoy was passing by.
Holly McGeogh was one of 21 Michigan soldiers killed in the past 10 months in Iraq -- one of 527 Americans as of last week. One of two or three of our soldiers killed each day.
Then too, some 3,000 young Americans have been wounded in the war -- some maimed for life with the horrible cutting steel of modern weapons -- amputees, head wounds, spinal damage, psychosis -- grave injuries that are little reported. Young lives that may be shuttled away in a VA hospital or to the back room of an impoverished family.
Pfc. McGeogh and her fellow soldiers were told by the President of the United States that she was going to war to protect America from murderous weapons of mass destruction (WMD). President Bush told them it was imperative that they risk their lives to save their families and friends back home from the threat of nuclear bombs and anthrax.
Yet, members of the Bush administration‘s own team -- including former Treasury Secretary Paul O‘Neill and weapons inspector David Kay -- are coming forward with evidence that what Bush told us about WMDs was a lie -- something virtually every country in the United Nations suspected from the get-go.
Now, President Bush has ordered a probe into the “intelligence failure“ regarding Iraq’s nonexistent weapons. Yet, as is brilliantly satirized in Tom Tomorrow‘s political cartoon on page four of this issue, it‘s perfectly obvious that the White House ordered the CIA to drum up evidence of WMDs as a pretext for launching its pet war. Their hand-picked probe will come up with some CIA spook to hang the blame on, while Emperor Bush will dodge the bullet in his new clothes.
Do you think? Could things possibly turn out any other way?
For Pfc. McGeogh, the war ended at the age of 19. She, and many other young spirits her age will never know what it means to have a career or a home. She will never hold a baby in her arms. She will never marry or know love again. She will never sit with her family at Thanksgiving dinner, never know another Christmas, never gaze into her grandchildrens‘ eyes. She will never celebrate another birthday, never smell the roses or feel the warmth of the sun.
But there are some people who will come out of the war doing very well.
Vice President Cheney, for instance, who earned $36 million in 2000 from Halliburton Corporation, the year he was tapped by Bush as a running mate. Thanks to Cheney, who was CEO of Halliburton from 1995-2000, the company has received contracts worth billions to rebuild Iraq -- bid-free. Cheney still receives up to $1 million per year from Halliburton in the form of stock deferrals.
So you see, while our young soldiers die or are maimed, the war in Iraq is a pretty sweet deal for 63-year-old Cheney and his corporate buddies.
Condoleezza Rice? She was director of Chevron Oil from 1991-2001, when she became National Security Advisor for President Bush. Chevron named an oil tanker after her. Makes you wonder if there‘ll be a little “something extra“ for her from Chevron, thanks to a war that‘s captured the second largest oil reserves on earth.
President Bush? He should come out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a very rich man through his oil industry connections.
As one small example, Bush’s father, the former president, is a member of the multi-billion Carlyle Group which stands to profit handsomely from the oil pipeline in Central Asia that George W. made possible via the war in Afghanistan. That pipeline will account for 80% of U.S. oil by 2050. “In a really peculiar way, George W. Bush could, some day, benefit financially from his own administration‘s decisions, through his father‘s investments. And that to me is a jaw-dropper,“ notes Charles Lewis of the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity.
Yeah, big surprise, that one.
It makes you wonder what our soldiers would say if it were spelled out to them just how much the aging residents of the White House stand to gain from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and how much their own young lives stand to lose.

The Year Without a Song

Have you ever felt as if those Mad Cow spongeiform thingies are eating away at your brain, destroying your memory?
I had that feeling while scanning our “Best of Northern Michigan“ survey when it came to the question: “What was the best song of the year?“
I couldn‘t think of a single song released last year, much less “the best.“ Nor could anyone in our office. Nor, for that matter, could 99% of the readers who answered the survey.
In 1968, 1977, 1982 or 1991 -- the heyday of the Doors, Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, BeeGees, Eagles, U2, Elvis Costello, GNR and Nirvana, respectively -- it would have been a real dogfight trying to determine what song was the “best“ of the year, there were so many to choose from -- usually dozens.
Was there a song to rival “Yesterday” or “Light My Fire” recorded last year? A “My Way“ or “Girls Just Want To Have Fun“? A “Hotel California,” “Stairway to Heaven,“ “Take Me to the River,“ “Let‘s Get It On“ or a “Satisfaction”? A “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Sweet Child O‘ Mine,“ “Black Hole Sun,“ “Head Like a Hole,“ “Enter Sandman,“ “Rock the Casbah“ or “It‘s a Beautiful Day”? Even something dumb but memorable on par with “The Thong Song“ or “The Macarena“?
In 2003, all I remember is John Mayer warbling something, the title of which didn‘t seem worth commiting to memory. That and Madonna and Britney Spears goofing on each other in a stomach-heaving video. And Kid Rock rehashing a cheesy “Feel Like Makin‘ Love,“ recorded by Bad Company a quarter-century ago. Outkast had a huge hit, but their ditty didn‘t show up on our readers‘ radar.
Beyond that? Nada. The best song I heard in 2003 was Led Zeppelin‘s contribution to a Cadillac commercial, recorded 30 years in the past: “Been a long time since-‘a rock & roll... Oooh yeah, oooh yeah...“
Ah, you say, but what about Norah Jones winning all those Grammys for her bag o‘ hits?
Ah, says I, those songs were all released in 2002.
I‘d like to report that our reader reponses have nailed down the best song of 2003, but after scanning several hundred returns, it turns out that most of you couldn‘t think of a single song to mention either. In fact, 99 percent of you didn‘t vote for a single tune -- 2003 was simply the year without a song.
Check out our Best of Northern Michigan issue on March 4 for the squeaker on this one...