[GJones2]

> “It was Bush-43, using American military for his own reasons (most likely revenge for purported attempt on his father by Saddam, which never succeeded if true) invaded Iraq and DESTABILIZED ENTIRE MIDDLE_EAST.”

Destabilized? When was it ever stable? Israel hasn’t really been at peace since it was established. Saddam killed hundreds of thousands within Iraq, and over a million died in his wars against Iran and Kuwait. Also 9-11 — an attack on the United States that killed more persons than at Pearl Harbor — happened BEFORE the invasion of Iraq. (The United States has been better off since the invasion of Iraq. How many American casualties have we had since then, compared with 9-11? It’s been many years, but I doubt that we’ve accumulated the number we lost on that one day.)

Before the invasion of Iraq the situation in the Middle East was producing all kinds of harmful — and in the future possibly even more dangerous (e.g., from nuclear weapons) -—consequences. The fact that things were screwed up afterwards doesn’t change that.

[GJones2]

> It’s been many years [since the Iraq invasion], but I doubt that we’ve accumulated the number we lost on that one day [9-11].)

I see that in nearly a decade and a half the total is several thousand more than I'd thought (I repeat, compared to that single day). Each loss in combat, of course, matters to the family and friends, and to others who feel sympathy for them. I lost a family member in a war myself, and it has greatly affected my own life, but to put the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the context of other wars (and taking into account population):

[The American Prospect, whether a reliable site or not, the numbers are probably close enough to give an approximation]