MSM/DNC Approaching 2000 Dead Soldiers

[Annie]

Not light, not funny. But Preemptive:

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/29740.htm

EXPLOITING THE DEAD

By RALPH PETERS

WE'LL soon reach a total of 2,000 dead American troops in Iraq. You won't miss the day it happens. The media will pound it into you.

But no one will tell you what that number really means — and what it doesn't.

Unable to convince the Bush administration or our troops to cut and run, the American left is waging its campaign of support for Islamist terror through our all-too-cooperative media. And you're the duck in the anti-war movement's shooting gallery.

Breathless anchors and voice-of-God columnists will suggest that 2,000 dead is an exorbitant price to pay in wartime, that reaching such a threshold means we've failed and that it's time to "support our troops and bring them home."

All lies. Certainly, the life of every American service member matters to us. But the left's attempt to exploit dead soldiers and Marines for partisan purposes is worse than grave-robbing: Ghouls only take gold rings and decaying flesh; the left wants to rob our war dead of their sacrifices and their achievements, their honor and their pride.

Those who died in Iraq have not died in vain. Even should Iraq fail itself in the end, our courageous effort to give one Middle-Eastern Muslim population a chance to create a rule-of-law democracy has been worth the cost — for their sake, but also for ours. Without a transformation of the Middle East, we shall see no end of terror.

As a former soldier whose friends still serve under our flag, I'm especially disgusted by the pretense on the part of those who never served and who wouldn't dream of letting their own children serve that they speak for the men and women in uniform.

Our troops speak for themselves. By re-enlisting. And returning to Iraq, to complete the mission for which their comrades gave their lives or suffered life-altering wounds.

Two generations of politicians and pundits suffer from their avoidance of military service. They speak of war in ignorance and view our troops — whom they quietly despise — as nothing more than tools of their own ambitions. After deploring body counts during their Vietnam-era protest years, today our leftists revel in the American body count in Iraq.

The left has been infuriated by its inability to incite an anti-war movement in our military — forgetting that this is an all-volunteer force whose members believe in service to our country. The best the Democrats can do is to trot out poor Wes Clark, an ethically challenged retired general who will say anything, anywhere, anytime in return for five more seconds in the spotlight.

As for that "unacceptable" number of casualties, let's put it in perspective:

Our current loss rate in Iraq from combat and non-combat deaths is 765 per year. That's painful for individual families, but we would have to remain in Iraq, taking casualties at the same rate, for 76 years to rival our loss of more than 58,000 Americans in Indochina.

And Vietnam wasn't remotely as important to our national security. The terrorists we face today are more implacable than any of the enemies from our past. Even the Germans didn't dream of eradicating our entire population. The Japanese hoped to master Asia, not to massacre every man, woman and child in America.

We would need to continue our efforts in Iraq and the greater War on Terror for 532 years to suffer the 407,000 dead we lost in less than four years in World War II.

And what about our greatest struggle, the American Civil War? We would have to maintain the status quo in Iraq for 470 years just to rival the number of Union dead and for 729 years to equal our total losses, North and South.

Even our Revolutionary War, in which fewer than 5,000 Americans died in combat (many more, unrecorded, fell to disease) has to be judged in terms of the population at the time — just over 2 million. Equivalent losses today would be over 500,000 dead Americans.

The point isn't to play hocus-pocus with statistics. That's what the pro-terrorist left is trying to do — betting that you know nothing of military history. Two thousand dead isn't a magic number. Our first loss was as important as the last. We must not make a mockery of our fallen by treating them as political rag-dolls to be tossed around the media playroom. Great causes incur great costs.

In historical terms, our losses in Iraq have been remarkably light, given the magnitude of what we seek to achieve. The low casualty rate is a tribute to the skill and professionalism of our troops and their battlefield leaders. None of us should breathe a word that undercuts them while they're fighting our war.

If the American left and its media sympathizers want someone to blame for our combat losses, they should begin with themselves. Their irresponsible demands for troop withdrawals provide powerful encouragement to Muslim fanatics to keep on killing as many American service members as possible. On the worst days the terrorists suffer in Iraq, our "anti-war" fellow citizens keep the cause of Islamist fascism alive. Their support is worth far more to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi than any amount of Saudi money.

It would be wonderful to live in a world in which war was never necessary. But we don't live in such a world. And there are no bloodless wars. We should honor every fallen American. But we also must recognize that, on this maddened earth, only the blood of patriots shed abroad allows us to live in safety here at home.

Ralph Peters' latest book is "New Glory, Expanding America's Global Supremacy."

 

[Annie]

https://www.afsc.org/2000/default.php

Needless to say, there are links:

There are currently 265 events planned in 47 states and counting...

On the day after the 2,000th reported U.S. military death in Iraq, people will gather in communities across the U.S. to say that the country’s pro-peace majority wants Congress to stop the deaths by stopping the dollars that are funding the war. More about the event >

 

[Annie]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/10/22/MNGO0FC4QB33.DTL

U.S. death toll in Iraq nears 2,000
Some expect momentum to grow for withdrawal of U.S. troops
- Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Saturday, October 22, 2005

Washington -- It's a grim milestone that no one wants to see come about, but the United States is nearing 2,000 military deaths in Iraq.

With public opinion polls showing that a majority of Americans favor a partial or total withdrawal from Iraq 32 months after President Bush launched an invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, experts and advocates disagree on whether the looming benchmark will further erode public or congressional support for the war that the president promises to continue until a successful conclusion.

As of Friday, the official Defense Department tally of Americans killed in Iraq stood at 1,983, while the unofficial Web site Iraq Coalition Casualty Count put the total at 1,992.

About 15,200 American military personnel have been wounded in the war. Totals on Iraqis killed since March 2003 are only estimates, ranging from 15,500 to 72,100 if victims of violent crime since Hussein fell in April 2003 are included, according to the Brookings Institution's Iraq index.

United for Peace and Justice, a group that has organized anti-war protests throughout the country, plans small commemorations the day after the Pentagon's official count reaches the 2,000 mark.

"In practical terms, these are not going to be big-scale events,'' said Bill Dobbs, the group's national media coordinator in New York. "But they'll be poignant reminders that that there have been too many deaths.'' Dobbs' group favors an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, a position rejected by Bush and the majority of members of Congress.

Bay Area plans so far call for candlelight vigils in San Francisco and Oakland.

Dobbs said anti-war campaigners are focusing on Congress in an attempt to end funding for the war. "We've hammered Bush numerous times over Iraq, but Congress needs to be put on the hot seat because they authorized the war and continue to support it.''

He said the milestone will produce anti-war momentum. "Every day there are more people saying enough of this war. I think more people are going to say end it.''

But Cliff May of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies said an early end to the war would be a tragic mistake. "Every American death in Iraq or elsewhere is heartbreaking. ... But this war is as serious as any war America has fought,'' May said. He said the military effort in Iraq is directly related to the worldwide war against terrorism.

"This is as important as World War II,'' he said, in which America suffered more than 400,000 military deaths. At current levels of losses in Iraq, "It would take 200 years or so to lose that many in this war on Islamic totalitarianism,'' he said.

Maj. Gen. William Webster, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, said Friday that it will take up to two years for the Iraqi army to have the military leadership and supplies it needs to operate on its own.

Webster did not say how that would affect any potential withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

Passing the 2,000-death barrier in itself won't sway much of the public, said John Mueller, an expert on war and public opinion at Ohio State University, because polls show that much of the public has already turned against the war.

For instance, a CBS survey early this month showed Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling Iraq by 62 percent to 34 percent.

By 59 percent to 36 percent, those polled said American forces should leave Iraq as soon as possible.

"The issue is that casualties keep accumulating and support for the war is very low, no matter how you measure it. It just erodes,'' Mueller said.

Given that erosion, Mueller said that even eventual victory in Iraq won't improve the public sentiment about the war. "There is no way to regain support. Those disaffected will still say it cost too much and it isn't worth the cost,'' he said.

Speaking from Baghdad via a video conference, Webster was asked by Pentagon reporters Friday about the looming 2,000 death toll.

"I think their service was honorable. We grieve every one of these losses. We think that their service is worth the effort. And when you talk to the majority of their brothers, the young soldiers out there fighting the fight, they want us to finish this mission,'' Webster said.

But Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, a leader in congressional efforts to push for withdrawal from Iraq, said reaching the 2,000 mark will send a signal to her colleagues.

"There is a change of sentiment among the American people, and Congress had better catch up. ... People are getting fed up,'' she said.

Woolsey is circulating a letter among her colleagues urging Bush to change course by getting the United Nations and NATO involved in Iraq and intensifying plans for post-conflict reconstruction, using experts from places such as Northern Ireland and South Africa that are rebuilding after long conflicts.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, another anti-war member, said: "When you look at the polling numbers, for what they're worth, this should be a tipping point.

"I think the American people are going to insist'' that Bush change course on Iraq, she said.