a list of atrocities as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

It's time for me to rant and go off on tangents about Iraq... I watched "60 Minutes" this past weekend and I was moved by one particular piece. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/29/60minutes/main3553612.shtml

On the June 29th episode of "60 Minutes" there was a segment on Iraq (of course) and how 90% of its Christian population has either fled the country or killed due to Islamic Fundamentalist terror. That's one million people forced out of their homes or murdered because of their religion! Iraq has been a predominantly Muslim country for a short amount of time, while Christians have actually lived in peace in the area currently known as Iraq for nearly 2000 years. These devotees of Islam are deeply divided into sects and are now in a Civil War. Shia against Sunni extremists and no Christians are allowed there. Iraqi Christians, the direct decedents of the original Christians, are now refugees, hiding or dead.

Under the rule of Saddam Hussein, things were a lot better for Christians and obviously in general. In fact, Saddam's right-hand-man was a Christian. Hussein, was a tyrant, but as it turns out, he was not all bad. He promoted secular Arab living and modernism. Iraq is now in a complete state of chaos and lawlessness because of Bush's oil-gluttony. Under U.S. Occupation, Iraq is now a haven for Islamic extremism and terrorist groups. Islam, along with the world, hates the U.S. now more than ever! Presently, radical fundamentalists have decided to rid Iraq of Christians. They consider non-Muslims to be inferior human beings who don't deserve to live. Not all Muslims feel this way, but radicals do! Does this sound familiar? (i.e. The Holocaust) It doesn't take a dictator to destroy Western Civilization; it just takes devout acceptance of religious extremism!

I'm a secular Jew and I lived in Israel during the second uprising of the Intifada from where I witnessed terrorism first-hand. That was before there was a wall built to keep the suicide bombers out. I was there when the Number 18 bus was bombed nearly every day in Jerusalem. On numerous occasions, I saw the Hassidim (Orthodox Jews) mop blood off the sidewalks and pull bone fragments from the walls of buildings in order to bury the dead according to Jewish law, fully intact. There has never been a more horrific sight in all my life than the aftermath of suicide bombings and I hope I will never have to witness that again. Till this day, it's very difficult for me to watch a single news broadcast or any war movie because I can't help but have flashbacks. I thank God that I was not a victim of terror.

Terrorists hope to die as martyrs in order kill people outside their faith. They won't accept other religions; they wish to exterminate them all. They went after the Jews first, Israel is an easy target, and now its the Christians that have cause to worry. Religious intolerance coupled with world domination is what terrorism really is. Iraq was a modern a country and now it's the hell mouth of extremist violence.

As a both a citizen of the world and a modern Jewish woman living in New York City, I find myself deeply troubled by the expulsion of Christians from Iraq! This war was waged under the guise of anti-terrorism and that that was a big fat lie! Our government didn't start this war because of Iraq's so-called nuclear threat to humankind, nor was there a connection to the atrocity of 911; it was over the control of oil and therefore, power. Iraq was not the center of terrorism, but now it is! Our troops are there and we're so so stuck! With the U.S occupation of Iraq, our President and his gas-suckling administration has ripped apart the fabric of the world! Thanks to Bush, it may take many generations for the United States of America to be considered a great country ever again. For this presidential administration, we could create a list of atrocities as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

Our sad reality here in the United States is that it doesn't even matter who wins the next Presidential race, its will have to be better than this one! We have to hope it will get better, because we can't imagine things getting worse. Somehow, they do with every passing day. Neither candidate could pull our troops out because we made this bed and now we must lie in it. The next administration is inheriting a complete and total cluster-fuck! As a direct result of George W. Bush, the country of Iraq is hell in a nutshell and the U.S. economy is right well screwed up as well. To add further insult to multiple injuries, our mighty leaders have been borrowing money from countries that don't even like us to fund a war that has no solution! And at this very moment, to insure America's control over the oil, this administration is trumping up reasons to attack Iran. Nuclear threat worked in the past so they are trying to use it once again.