The real costs of war hidden by misguided politicians

The real costs of the Iraq invasion and occupation on all those affected by it are rarely fully revealed by our so called "free press". Free indeed to not fulfill the role given to the press by our founding fathers who were greatly concerned about the excessive power that could be seized by the executive branch.How many more children shall lose, forever, a father or mother; how many mothers and fathers must lose a son or daughter; how many more lives must be destroyed or damaged forever by the senseless, endless, carnage occurring daily in Iraq and elsewhere. Those who started this war are the ones who never have to pay the real price of war....death or injury. Instead they label those who oppose them as unpatriotic and mouth idealistic platitudes while denying reality and stubbornly pursuing a fatally flawed policy.
If all the time, energy and money spent on this "war" had, instead, been invested in our country, countless problems could have been tackled, even resolved. But since we seem to have a government of, by, and for the corporate interests in our country, whose primary objective is short term financial gain, our infrastructure slowly rots away, our schools deteriorate, our health care system leaves 45 million without insurance, our environment is degraded and our role as leader of the free world is tarnished almost beyond redemption. Pope John Paul II said it well "Capitalism, undisciplined by morality, will self destruct".
President Bush proudly strutted his strong , christian beliefs as a reason to get elected. He wanted to restore honor and respect to the the role of leader of the most physically powerful country in the world. Instead we now see a vast trail of death, blindness, denial, lies, coverups, corruption and betrayal of christian values. In the meantime, the public, 70% of whom believe the president is not doing his job well, scurry about their rat race lives, not taking the time to stand up for the values upon which our country is based.
All of this is heartbreaking and immensely disturbing. Yet, these are precisely the times and conditions that call upon true patriots to come to the rescue of our country. Feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness, nicely cultivated by assorted interest groups, cannot be allowed to sustain the complacency and lack of involvement that is fatal to the essence of democracy.