Album: A Bigger Bang (2005)

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Comments: 10

• Smartalek from Boston@ Danny (Waterville NY) & John (Woburn MA), should either of you ever come back here -- I wonder, do you still feel that way now, given that everything the neocons claimed about Iraq (quick; easy; cheap -- heck, it'd pay for itself; they'd "welcome us as liberators;" it would "remake the Mideast" -- well, it did that, but not quite the way they envisioned) has turned out to be completely, totally, catastrophically wrong, and everything the harshest, most extreme critics predicted in their worst-case nightmares, and then some, came true?
  The true costs of the Iraqi debacle will never be known, but...
  in dollars, it's at least $2 trillion and counting;
  over four thousand of our very best and bravest dead (but of course, none of them the offspring or bloodlines of any of those brave neocons);
  tens of thousands more wounded, some horrifically;
  literally uncountable Iraqi casualties, and even more displaced, most of them permanently;
  a civil war unleashed that's destabilized the entire region, and brought Iraq under the effective control of their enemy and ours, Iran -- whose prestige and regional power have been hugely enhanced;
  ditto for the influence of Al Qaeda and its offshoots in Pakistan, Afghanistan, north, east, and west Africa, and the rest of the world, including Europe and our own homeland;
  the devastating loss of US credibility and standing in the world, including our known involvement in prohibited torture and the rendition of provably innocent individuals, and demonstrating again, as in VietNam, that a bunch of local insurgents, poorly armed but well motivated, can easily tie the world's greatest military force in knots -- and not to mention that now, with our drone programs, we're creating new terrorists faster than we can kill the existing ones;
  plus, of course, the radical growth of the anti-state of ISIS/Daesh, whose command-and-control now consist of the very Iraqi military whom the neocon geniuses unilaterally cut loose, without pay, position, or prospects.
  And, leaving all snark aside, we literally could not have done any worse had we outsourced our military policy to Mick and the boys -- or any randomly chosen bunch of drunken fools.
  But wait -- it gets worse!
  Because now, those very same imbeciles want us to go BACK to the sandbox, sending American troops (but, again, not THEIR kids) to deal with ISIS and Iran... because THIS time, we'll get it right, for sure!
  (Apologies to everyone for the length of this rant -- but not for one iota of content.)
• Alastair from Stranraer, United KingdomMusically it's good and probably many with agree with the points expressed but Mick doesn't do the song any favours by using a line like "I think that you're a crock of s--t" which is just a lazy insult. Maybe it doesn't sink the song completely but it's disappointing that a songwriter of Mick's experience could'nt come up with something more insightful and cutting.
• Ashley from Quincy, Ilthis song is so true I'm only 14 and I want to live a long life but the way things are going now I don't know if I'll get to.And MusicMama you are so wrong they will live on forever and ever I'll make sure of that I promise!!!!
• James from Gettysburg, Palove the Stones, but I'll always be a Sweet Neocon!
• Musicmama from New York, NyI agree that there is never a "wrong" place or time to say what needs to be said. But I also agree that this song is not good. It has lame rhymes and a lazy performace. This is yet another example to show why the Stones should've broken up decades ago.
• Craig from Melbourne, AustraliaWhen is it the wrong place & the wrong time to say what you feel?
• Boris Müller from Zürich, Switzerlandi agree with the lyrics, but the song is just BAD!!!
• John from Woburn, MaI agree with Danny snd have to say, does it ever come off well when an entertainer(s) delves into politics?
• Danny from Waterville, NyI kind of lost some respect for the Stones after this song came out. In one aspect I believe they have whatever right to say what they want, but I felt it was the wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong tone.
• Mike from Germantown, MdAs a die-hard Democrat, this song makes me feel good.

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