Regarding "draining the swamps"

The idea of "draining the swamp" is a commonly held belief of war supporters and does contain an element of truth, ie; terrorists live in the swamp, drain the swamp, solve the terrorist problem. Easy to understand, easy to repeat, contains a germ of truth, requires no further thought or debate, and effectively sanitizes the War.

"Draining the swamp" is but one of the beliefs that comprise the Republican Conservative Creed. The fixed set of values, beliefs and morals constitutes a quasi religion. They hold fast to these beliefs very well. More about the myths that drive the contemporary conservative movement here. Now back to draining the swamp...

Here's what happens when you "drain the swamp." First the cost in human lives:

American Deaths Since war began (3/19/03): 4092
American Wounded: Official - 30333; Estimated 23000 - 100000
Other Coalition Troops: 313
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 514

Disclaimer: The following numbers reflect the diverse points of view regarding who should be counted as "dead." The lower numbers reflect only the "bad guys." The higher numbers count some of the civilians who were killed with the bad guys. The highest numbers reflect the total number of casualties regardless of status. Take your pick.

Iraq Body Count: March 19, 2003 - March 10, 2008, 81,874 - 89,353
Iraq Coalition Casualty Count: March 1, 2005 - March 10, 2008, 40,662
Brookings Iraq Index: May 2003 - February 2008, 103,567
The Associated Press: April 2005 - February 13, 2008, 31,245 dead, 35,436 wounded
The Iraq Family Health Study (the “WHO study”) March 2003 - June 2006, 151,000
The Lancet, “Mortality after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq” March 19, 2003 - July 31, 2006,
426,369 - 793,663

The human toll:

Over 2.4 million vacated their homes for safer areas within Iraq, up to 1.5 million were living in Syria, and over 1 million refugees were inhabiting Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Gulf States. Most Iraqis are determined to be resettled to Europe or North America, and few consider return to Iraq an option.

Of course, the sanitized attack methods used by the US airforce that targeted only "repairable" infrastructure minimized the damage caused by the Air War. It was the looting and the ensuing insurgency and sectarian violence that caused much more damage the Iraqi infrastructure. Of course the looting and the insurgency are two of the things that will happen when you drain the swamp but don't plan ahead.

Other costs include the destruction of the clean water supply, the electric service, the roads, the bridges, universities, schools, hospitals, healthcare for the citizenry.

The total cost of "draining the swamp" will be 5 TRILLION US dollars.

Casual use of the truism "draining the swamp." is like casually dismissing human life. It's a bloodthirsty, violent, and dangerous use of truth.