Accountability for the Iraq War

by David Krieger

We have been engaged in an illegal war in Iraq for five years - and there is no accountability.

It is beyond doubt that our leaders lied us into this war - and there is no accountability.

More than four thousand American and coalition soldiers are dead - and there is no accountability.

Tens of thousands of American and coalition soldiers are seriously wounded - and there is no accountability.

Our surviving soldiers are coming home traumatized from the war without proper medical and psychiatric care - and there is no accountability.

More than a million Iraqis, mostly civilians, have been killed in this war and countless others wounded - and there is no accountability.

More than four million Iraqis are displaced as internal or external refugees of this war - and there is no accountability.

By using so-called “depleted uranium” weapons, we are poisoning the earth, air and water of Iraq, causing serious health problems to Iraqis and coalition soldiers - and there is no accountability.

America has become a nation that tortures - and there is no accountability.

America has become a nation that spies on its citizens - and there is no accountability.

America has become a nation that hides the body bags of its soldiers killed in action - and there is no accountability.

We are spending $12 billion a month on this war - and there is no accountability.

Reputable economists calculate that this war will cost American citizens more than $3 trillion - and there is no accountability.

This war is burdening unborn generations of Americans and Iraqis - and there is no accountability.

This war has brought respect for America to its lowest ebb throughout the world - and there is no accountability.

The war in Iraq has stretched our military forces to the breaking point, making us far less able to cope with real threats to our security - and there is no accountability.

The war in Iraq has been a training ground for terrorists, making us far less safe - and there is no accountability.

Accountability means holding to account those who are responsible for a war that is illegal under international law - in this case, it means holding to account those who have been irresponsible and criminal in their behavior. It means holding to account George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and others. It means not just their disgrace, but trials to bring them to justice.

This is not a partisan issue - it is an issue of responsibility and accountability and, at a deeper level, an issue of restoring our decency, our dignity and our democracy.

Americans must hold those responsible for this war to account.

David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.