Forty two years later...

... we are having another war protest in DC. A lot have changed in four decades but apparently the reasons for this demonstration have remained the same. Thousands of people rallied earlier today seeing this as an opportunity to show the Congress that the country have turned away from this conflict. On a side note, finally... Only took three years. It seems like people finally realized that the war was started under false pretenses, that the government deceived them in order to achieve their own ambition. Because of the way America invaded Iraq, the rest of the world now sees the country as a bully and a hypocrite. Many people are now drawing parallels between this war and the war in Vietnam. No one up high seem to see the atrocities that are happening on the ground every single day, turning a blind eye to bombings, killings and kidnappings. We did our best to destroy the country, and yet we show an amazing thoughtlessness to rebuilding what we've ruined. The difference between Iraq and Vietnam though is the fact that Americans at least knew who their enemy was in the latter and realized who they were up against. The current situation is much more cloudy and unclear. The country was led to the war without clear evidence of whatever was claimed to have been found. Troops are fighting against terrorism with someone never directly linked to any attacks. Sounds a bit weird to me.
What this conflict did, most importantly, is ruin the image of the US throughout the world. We are hated pretty much everywhere. If we were looked upon only five years ago, we are now laughed at. Where we were feared, we are now despised. Talk to a foreigner who hasn't lived here and ask him what he thinks of us. Chances are you will not hear anything pleasant. Ask him how we are presented in their TV news and newspapers. Have him tell you what his friends think of the current situation. Or better yet, travel overseas and talk to local people yourself. Strike up a conversation with a salesperson, a waiter or a cab driver and listen to what they tell you. I bet their response will be worlds different from the bullshit we are fed here every single day. It's kind of like getting a second opinion from a doctor. Only in this case their opinion is what shapes our image and political and economic future on the world arena. Even now, a mere three years after the beginning of the war, we are in a big political mess with other countries distancing themselves from us and forming unions of their own in order to create a strong enough opposition to the USA. In the economic sense, dollar weakened significantly over the past few years yielding to all major currencies over the period of three years. If you go back a few years, when Euro was first circulated, the USD was gaining against it and the future outlook was quite positive. Fast forward to today, and it lost over 32%, 25% against the Sterling. If that wasn't enough, 2006 also showed major declines of a dollar against emerging markets in addition to developed markets' currencies. If this trend continues (and all evidence suggests it will), foreign imports will become increasingly expensive, driving prices in local markets up. This doesn't strike me as a positive and promising future for our economy that has just recently crawled out from recession.
But I got a bit distracted here. I didn't plan to talk about economics or financial markets in the first place. My purpose was to bring attention to today's protest hoping it would influence the Congress to do something about it in addition to all the talk. Like freeze funds, for example... What do you think?