The topic below was originally posted yesterday, in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal as well as The Peace Tree, The Independent Bloggers Alliance and Worldwide Sawdust.

Remember the pride Americans felt in its military following the first Gulf War in 1991? Prior to that conflict we had the "Vietnam Syndrome" tainting our military with the stench of defeat and shameful atrocities such as the My Lai massacre. Supposedly, a reformed military culture debunked the legacy of Vietnam, liberated Kuwait with honor while safeguarding America's interests in Saudi Arabia.

To provide hospital facilities where rats roam freely and mold pollutes for injured troops returning from Iraq's war quagmire represents the height of unadulterated evil any way the Republican spin machine tries to slice it.

U.S.A. Today on March 16 showed color photos of luxury Walter Reed suites where members of the Senate and House are provided with the best of everything courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.

If a member of the Senate or House were placed in a moldy, rat-infested room at Walter reed Hospital a congressional investigation would begin immediately.  One explanation given for the horrifying neglect of wounded service personnel being relegated to such scandalously inadequate hospital rooms is simply this.  

So many more injured war individuals were arriving daily at Walter Reed Hospital that they didn't have time to maintain and renovate the facilities.  Also, there weren't enough rooms to keep up with the soaring numbers of injured that were continuously arriving from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

As scandal reports increase and a day of ultimate reckoning appears close at hand, desperate Republicans descend once more into their familiar slime pit of outrageous accusations, surging into the ignominious realm of neo-McCarthyism.

This morning, as the clock winds down on Tuesday and Election Day, Senator Elizabeth Dole served as hatchet person designate on Meet the Press.  Recognizing that Republicans face a prospective calamitous backlash from voters on the Iraq War, Dole exclaimed, "Democrats appear to be content with losing (in Iraq)."

In that Republicans have sought to link the increasingly costly Iraq conflict to the war on terror, the Dole remark at the very least appeared to be an effort to convey the point that Democrats really do not care what happens to the country when facing an external threat.  This is the same point that Bush has been shouting himself hoarse over in his carefully screened rallies before selective audiences.

In Dole's case perhaps she was studying some of her tart-tongued husband's speeches in this eleventh hour stage of a campaign that is looking increasingly bleak for Republicans.  

Surely the far right Republicans who have dominated so much of this Republican-dominated Administration know the Biblical admonition that if you "sew to the wind, you will reap the whirlwind."

In almost every area where they have had voting power they have "sown to the wind".  They rushed to war when the war machine went into high gear with forged documents and lying advisors providing false information about Saddam's "weapons of mass destruction".  A series of generals who totally miscalculated what the cost of going into the Iraq War would cost.

They apparently had no idea how resistant the Iraqis would be to taking over.  Perhaps the U.S. track record of its conduct in the Middle East had taught them a lesson regarding letting Americans control their destinies.

It was the much-heralded Republican Ronald Reagan, a so-called "foreign policy expert", who left office with the scorching scandal of the Iran Contra arms deals, breaking international law.  The notorious Oliver North dared to run for office and we can thank God that Nancy Reagan stepped in with the voice of reason, cautioning Virginia voters against voting for North.  

Lest we forget the Vietnam War.  Richard Nixon continued this tragic war with its staggering cost in lives, destruction and death.  The bombing of Cambodia without justifiable cause, the entire debacle, represents a new low in U.S. history.  Nixon's dreadful contribution this war overshadows the Watergate Scandal.  

We can credit Robert McNamara for finally displaying the courage to let the public know what a horrifying conflict the Vietnam War was.  Yet some die-hard Republicans can only heap perpetual praise on this failed, impeached Republican president who ultimately resigned his office.  The question must be asked, "Why?"

And now, another Republican hero, President Ronald Reagan, has been eulogized as a great leader.  Ronald Reagan spoke of balancing the budget.  In the end Reagan tripled the national debt, never balancing one budget.  

Yet die-hard Republicans speak lovingly and longingly of Reaganomics.  What?  The Iran Contra Scandal!  Reagan violated international law he had helped establish.  The Reagan Administration was caught sending arms to the declared enemy.  

Related Note: Zogby International, in conjunction with Le Moyne College, has just completed a first-ever opinion poll of our combat troops serving in Iraq. The results are absolutely stunning.

This past Thursday, February 23rd, was the 15th anniversary of the start of the first Gulf War's ground war: Desert Storm. It lasted, incredibly, from start to finish 100 hours. We celebrate the end of that war tomorrow.

March 19th will be the 3rd anniversary of the start of the second Gulf War: Operation Iraqi Freedom. Although it was said that we destroyed 80% of the Iraqi army in 1991, OIF has now run 25,800+ hours and counting. We don't know when we'll be able to celebrate the end of this war.

As we pay our respects to those who served, those who died, those who suffered - and suffer still - a review of the two wars is in order. Though facts and figures and numbers and stats are sterile and dry for some, they no less have a tale to tell...