PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Our path to self destruction in utterly futile wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reminds me of a nightmare version of The Wizard of Oz.

The vaunted American military machine is just a cruel illusion as President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, Defense Secretary Gates and General Petreaus skip along a body-riddled, blood soaked road of dead foreigners and Americans to find a way out of a land they don't understand and will never master.

Sadly, there will be no courage, no heart, no brain and no return home for our foolish four, only endless war which will bankrupt us as surely as it will send untold thousands to an early grave, a life of crippling injury or madness.

We continue these lost and unnecessary causes in part on the ghost of Osama bin Laden, most likely the long dead boogeyman who we conveniently pretend is alive to keep our Military Industrial Complex humming along on all cylinders as the rest of the once great American manufacturing base disappears before our eyes and our infrastructure and social safety net disintegrate.

This is one version of The Wizard of Oz that won't garner any Oscars.

Originally published in the Glen Ellyn News, November 4, 2009