(Soldier killed by IED in Baghdad, Iraq, buried at Arlingtn National Cemetery on 3/14/08 by Win McNamee.)
4000 killed. 60,000 wounded. Over 1 million Americans have served in Iraq.
More than in any other American war, our troops in Iraq transcend soldiering. They are policeman, community organizers, aid workers, construction managers, politicians, diplomats.
As occupiers in a security vacuum, our troops fill every hole they can in Iraq’s fragile civil society. They’ve done so more heroically than any other previous American fighting force. Even the so-called Greatest Generation faced a less amorphous battle. Mind you the grand mess-up in Abu Ghraib came from the White House then down the Chain of Command. And the too-often slaughter of civilians is mostly the result of shady Rules of Engagement—which comes down the Chain of Command.
Yes, our ground troops have made mistakes. But mistakes have been the exception. We have 20 year olds in Iraq running entire neighborhoods so effectively they’ve reduced violence by 80-90%! (Imagine a 20 year running Browsnville, Camden, Watts, or Dorchester, then seeing all the gangs lay down weapons.) If Bush had listened to General Eric Shinseki in 2003 when he said several hundred thousand troops would be needed to stabilize Iraq, there’s a solid chance democracy would be taking root in Iraq.
Today is the day you forget all the lies that led us to war, all the bad decisions made by a bunch of overeducated DC sociopaths, all the political dimensions of the conflict. Today is the day you are proud to be an American. The day you think: 4000 good—no, great—men and woman have died fighting for my flag, for my nation, for my children and grandchildren, even if it was the wrong war. That’s not our soldiers’ fault. Today is the day you get choked up for the 18 year old kid grew up in, say, Ashland, KY, and lived in a trailer park with a pig farm for a front yard and was just trying tog get the fuck out but instead died for America.
Finally, shame on the New York Times, Washington Post, and LA Times for not leading with this harrowing milestone. No one died at Bear Stearns. When the 3000th American was killed in Iraq, it was front page news, worthy of multiple pages inside the flap. Let’s hope the nation’s newspapers honor our fallen in proper fashion tomorrow.
TAGS: HBO, Iraq, New York, New York Times, political, war
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March 24th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I’m a Soldier in the U.S. Army and when I heard news of the 4000 death mark I became sick to my stomach. I’m lucky enough to have been to Iraq and return home to my family but so many of my fellow Soldiers have not been as fortunate. And in my heart i feel like every one of those 4000 deaths our president is to be blamed for.
I’ve opened up a discussion on my blog so I can talk to people and answer their questions and hopefully make people understand that not all military are supporting this war and that every one of those deaths was important and unneeded. I’d like it you’d stop by and toss in your two cents.
I’m all for defending my country but U.S. did not need to be defended from Iraq.