4000

[cheerful_deviant]

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday, the military said, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000.

The grim milestone came on the same day that rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone, underscoring the fragile security situation and the resilience of both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups despite an overall lull in violence.

Full Story

 

[Guest]

Such a waste.

 

[cantdog]

4000 is beside the point.

Six or sixty thousand, what boots it? Either the mission is worth doing, or it isn't.

My local paper posed a question. Did the economy's crumbling indicate that the war should stop because we can't afford it? Beside the point.

Look. Defeating the Axis was a worthy mission. It were feckless to complain that money was tight, or that there were umpty-ump casualties. By contrast, Iraq was never worth a penny, nor a blister on a GI's thumb, as a mission.

This is not an amusement. A war is not like a trip to Vegas, that you quit because the costs have risen, or a new living room set that you put off buying until your financial situation improves.

There are only a few legitimate reasons for making war. If you are occupied, it is legitimate to resist. If you are attacked, it is legitimate to raise armies in self defense. In those cases, you fight. War is made because of exigency. Costs and casualties? Sure, minimize them; good administration, good organization, respectable generalship-- that's their function. But if the war is exigent, they aren't the point. It is not dying that degrades us, said the poet, but base living.

Iraq, though, never had a good reason and doesn't now. Any and all losses are sheer waste.

 

[kendo1]

I'm saddened for the casualties' families. And for the, I think, 40000 seriously wounded.
Do the insurgents really gain anything useful from their actions?

 

[oggbashan]

3,000 US soldiers died on one beach in on D-Day 1944.

Millions died in WW1.

Whether the mission is worth it or not, every death is a tragedy to the family and friends. We in the UK are also losing troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. So are other countries.

Our politicians must be more careful to make sure that the mission is essential and achievable before they send our troops into danger.

In the UK the political tradition is that once they are committed we support the troops. The only party that appears to be letting our injured troops down is our current government.

Our local garrison troops are going to Afghanistan shortly. I hope we will give them a civic reception when they return. So far the operators have tried to ban troops from some pubs and clubs, not because they cause trouble, but because our local lager louts cause trouble for them. The operators have been condemned but the practice continues...

Kipling's poem about Tommy Atkins had it right.

Og

 

[cantdog]

Exactly. In war, determination. This level of casualties would be acceptable if the war had a legitimate reason to be.

Do the insurgents really gain anything useful from their actions?

If my country were occupied, I would certainly figure that driving the enemy out was something useful. I would try to accomplish it intelligently, but I wouldn't imagine it an unworthy goal.

 

[logophile]

Yes, 4000 American troops killed since the beginning of the damnable invasion. It makes me cry, honestly cry to think of it.

How many Iraqis have also died?
There is no government agency that keeps count of that. We are left to try to tally up the dead from news reports and hospital records. One estimate has it at almost 90,000 civilians.

90,000.

Civilians.

I would love stats on the deaths and casualities from the other coalition forces as well.

And I will continue to grieve each and every lost life due to our pompous and self-indulgent government.

 

[Jagged]

To the 4,000 and their friends and family...Thank you for your noble sacrifice. People can debate all they want about the war, but you all answered the call without question and did what was needed to be done. You fought for each other and put your lives on the line for a set of ideals. I doubt the debate about oil or religion mattered to you. You saw a high purpose. I think the only fitting tribute to you all is to take care of those you let behind and to make sure your efforts weren't in vain.

Once again thank you...your sacrifice on the alter of liberty and freedom shall not be forgotten.