Save me, I am swallowed by the guilt of this.

It’s a weird thing these wars.

People are usually shocked to hear that the US led invasion of Iraq has been going on longer than the First World War. I know I was. Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday that George Bush announced he was going against the UN’s wishes?

People are curious about how long this war in Iraq is going to last and what the consequence of it is going to be.

Here’s Sarah’s guess (we’ll have to come back here in some time and find out if I’m right):

Length of war: More years than I am willing to count.
Consequence of war: A whole nation destroyed, US oil tanks full and a generation of people completely disillusioned with their government (though the vast majority will do nothing about this).

Here’s the story: this war is either going to be brought to a slow halt by the next government in 2008 or it’s just going to keep going. Let it be known that once you’ve stuck your hand in the blueberry pie, the stains last quite awhile.

Wars keep getting longer. Four years for WW1, six for WW2, eleven for Vietnam and what feels like a million for the Cold War (actually it was something like forty-four).

It’s so simple to start, but all consuming to end.

As for the consequence of this lovely raid of Iraqi soil, will we ever truly know? Trillions of dollars lost, thousand of lives, thousands of homes, thousands of refugees.

Whether it’s a great depression or its soldiers coming home and shooting their brains out in their laundry rooms, to every action there will be an equal and opposite reaction.

So what’s it going to be this time around?