Tuesday, September 07, 2004
A depressing milestone
A milestone of sorts is about to be reached. The number of US troops killed in Iraq has reached 999. For what it's worth, the total actually passed the 1000 mark a few days ago, if you include the American civilian contractors killed in Iraq - the latest (incomplete) count is 46 - so we're up to 1045 American war dead.
Of course, that doesn't count the estimated 4,895 to 6,370 dead Iraqi soldiers or, even worse, the 11,793 to 13,802 dead Iraqi civilian by-standers.
So what were they, our departed friends, sons, and daughters, doing there? Why have so many thousands of Americans and Iraqis been killed, maimed, mutilated? Our soldiers, at least, were willing to put their lives on the line to keep us all safe, and most of us agree that that is good and admirable. So far, though, it doesn't look like they were protecting US from anything. It's looking more and more like they were just a speed-bump on the way to the neocon wet-dream of global US hegemony. Or were they just bolstering the price of Dick Cheney's Halliburton shares?
3:30 PM EDT Update:
The milestone has been reached. 1000 US service men and women dead in Iraq. Sigh...
Of course, that doesn't count the estimated 4,895 to 6,370 dead Iraqi soldiers or, even worse, the 11,793 to 13,802 dead Iraqi civilian by-standers.
So what were they, our departed friends, sons, and daughters, doing there? Why have so many thousands of Americans and Iraqis been killed, maimed, mutilated? Our soldiers, at least, were willing to put their lives on the line to keep us all safe, and most of us agree that that is good and admirable. So far, though, it doesn't look like they were protecting US from anything. It's looking more and more like they were just a speed-bump on the way to the neocon wet-dream of global US hegemony. Or were they just bolstering the price of Dick Cheney's Halliburton shares?
3:30 PM EDT Update:
The milestone has been reached. 1000 US service men and women dead in Iraq. Sigh...
