Milestone Reached - 4,000 Dead Americans in Iraq. (1 Viewer)

[varanook]

America kicks *** and don't you forget it.
sincerely exxon, chevron, haliburton, etc..

 

[Mr. Littlejeans]

If the surge is "working," how do we define "working?" Mortars raining on the Green Zone?
If this can still be happening, we've got a long long long long long way to go. And it's going to cost an unbelievable amount of money and blood, for very little return. Even if we are able to prop up a "democracy" in Iraq, it's not going to make the homeland that much safer from terrorism.
So then we'll send a surge to Afghanistan . Ready for round 2?

 

[superchuck500]

Updated to March 15 and broken down by state:

US Department of Defense
Operation Iraqi Freedom
As of March 15, 2008

3,244 Hostile
738 Non-hostile

http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/STATE_OEF_OIF.pdf

That still doesn't include contractors.

Yet these contractor casualties go largely unmentioned by the Pentagon and unnoticed by the American public.

From the start of the war in March 2003 through Dec. 31 — the latest figures available — 1,123 civilian contractors are known to have died in Iraq, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Pentagon records show that 3,954 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

2/9/08 Contractor deaths up 17 percent in Iraq in 2007 | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

 

[Goatman Saint]

I remember such a grand day. A day where if you didn't have your American flag on your pickup and your Dixie Chicks CD smashed while eating your freedom fries you weren't a good American. A day when our president sent the only person in his administration with any worldwide respect to drum up a case in the United Nations about the terrorist state Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction. A war that would pay for itself with Iraqi oil profits and we would be welcomed with flowers and open arms. A time when there was a huge uproar about the words "under God" were trying to be removed from the pledge of allegence by some unAmerican court in San Fran. Words that were originally put into the pledge of allegence during the red scare times when were as a country trying to show how great we were as opposed to the godless USSR. All while the government watched our every move by using the Patriot Act and Homeland Security. Great times, Great times.

What exactly have we as a society gained from this?

 

[TDH]

Is it appropriate to call war contractors heroes? Didn't they serve and die for our country too?

 

[blackadder]

If the surge is "working," how do we define "working?" Mortars raining on the Green Zone?
If this can still be happening, we've got a long long long long long way to go. And it's going to cost an unbelievable amount of money and blood, for very little return. Even if we are able to prop up a "democracy" in Iraq, it's not going to make the homeland that much safer from terrorism.
So then we'll send a surge to Afghanistan . Ready for round 2?

US casualties cut to approximately 30 per month. Iraqi casualties cut in half. Walls and checkpoints to separate Sunnis from Shia by neighborhood. Sunni insurgents mostly co-opted through direct cash stipend. Congress and the general public accepts powerlessness to impact or change the policy.

That's success if your goal is to stay indefintely. The reduction in carnage is sufficient to make your case with the American media and the broader electorate. Residual and ongoing carnage is rendered irrelevant.

The assertion of progress can be strung out for years.

 

[superchuck500]

Is it appropriate to call war contractors heroes? Didn't they serve and die for our country too?

Well, I guess that probably gets a little tricky. You can make that argument, but there are some issues that would weigh against it.

But regardless of whether they're labeled war heroes, they should be included in the death toll when killed in theater performing functions for the military in prosecution of the war, IMO.

 

[BullDawg]

Is it appropriate to call war contractors heroes? Didn't they serve and die for our country too?

For the most part I say no. Most of the contractors I know here are making well in excess of $100K. I don't know how much is earned by the numerous Third-Country Nationals (aka non-American contractors) who I'm sure are among the casualty count. However, I'm fairly certain the Filipino who cuts my hair, or the Kuwaiti who cleans the toilets, or the Pakistani who cooks my meal doesn't make nearly as much as what I've been offered to come back as a contractor in communications.

Hero? For the most part no.

Taking the opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, but with a greatly increased level of danger? Yes.

 

[TPS]

>>Taking the opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, but with a greatly increased level of danger? Yes.

Hey bull dog,

Couldn't you have signed up on The Discovery Channel and gone crabbing in Alaska with a little less hassle?

TPS

 

[blackadder]

>>Taking the opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, but with a greatly increased level of danger? Yes.

Hey bull dog,

Couldn't you have signed up on The Discovery Channel and gone crabbing in Alaska with a little less hassle?

TPS

I think the crabbing thing is a lot more risky by probability of inhjury or death. And the pay isn't guaranteed.

You gotta find the crabs and make the haul to get a share. Otherwise you risk your life for not much money.

 

[BullDawg]

>>Taking the opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, but with a greatly increased level of danger? Yes.

Hey bull dog,

Couldn't you have signed up on The Discovery Channel and gone crabbing in Alaska with a little less hassle?

TPS

Pffft.

I have a better chance of getting home in one piece than they do.

But to put this in perspective when it comes to contractor "hero" talk. One group here (not where I was offered a job though) is making around $17k...a week. I'm not exaggerating either. $17,000...every...single...week. Let me get a job offer like that and see how fast I'm back over here as a civilian. Hero my butt...money talks.

 

[Saint Tillage]

 

[cruize]

Pffft.

I have a better chance of getting home in one piece than they do.

But to put this in perspective when it comes to contractor "hero" talk. One group here (not where I was offered a job though) is making around $17k...a week. I'm not exaggerating either. $17,000...every...single...week. Let me get a job offer like that and see how fast I'm back over here as a civilian. Hero my butt...money talks.

If you live a week, your family can give you one heck of a send off.

 

[CitySaint]

According to the VA 73,000 have died since the first Gulf War in 91'. It wasn't terrorist who were responsible it was our own depleted uranium. Guys make it home in one piece by the grace of God and then rot away with cancer from all the radiation exposure they were under in Iraq. That depleted uranium is a serious issue that is often never discussed.

 

[DadsDream]

According to the VA 73,000 have died since the first Gulf War in 91'. It wasn't terrorist who were responsible it was our own depleted uranium. Guys make it home in one piece by the grace of God and then rot away with cancer from all the radiation exposure they were under in Iraq. That depleted uranium is a serious issue that is often never discussed.

Hot topic issue in some corners of the Internet. Randy Rhodes...OpEd News....etc...from 2007.

They all cite a Veterans' Adminstration .pdf file from a May 2007 symposium.

Unfortuantely, all you get when you try their links is a Page Not Found error.

If you find an official VA document with that number though, I'd sure like to see it CitySaint.