photo: Hayden, Creative Commons

With all of the chaos and media coverage devoted to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict (see my previous post about it here), it’s easy for media and the rest of us to forget about the ongoing war in Iraq. Yes, slightly fewer of our troops are dying. But they, along with plenty of ordinary Iraqi citizens, are still getting killed there every day. We’re still spending $2.5 Billion per week and we still have well over 100,000 troops and thousands of contractors and others stationed there.

If we’re spending $2.5 Billion per week, what’s $592 Million?  And, what can you get for $592 Million? Well, thinking about the total number of US public schools that could be built, college scholarships given out or number of uninsured given health coverage. Or, how about a new Embassy?  It seems like our official there grew tired of operating out of one of Sadaam’s former palaces in the Green Zone.  So, they’ve spent some of our taxpayer dollars for a glossy, high-security embassy well within the-supposedly-safe-but-not-really-super-secure-Green Zone.

It’s time for us and our media to refocus our attention on the war in Iraq so that people remember what is happening there daily. If we can spend nearly $1 Billion on an embassy, how about redirecting our priorities to important pressing issues such as healthcare, global warming and education?  takepart by learning a bit about the recently deceased US troops and Iraqis. Make your voice heard: takepart to urge President Obama to end our war in Iraq.