On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, CBC is reporting that the latest milestone in Iraq has been reached: 4,000 dead American soldiers. This is, of course, in addition to the 29,451 injuries reported by the U.S. Military (antiwar.com suggests, based on disability claims by returning veterans, that 100,000 injuries is closer to the truth).
The news report throws in a mention of the Iraq Body Count project, which estimates a bare minimum of between 82 and 90 thousand Iraqi civilian deaths since the invasion began; a more reliable report that uses standard research methods in developing countries is the Lancet study, which estimates that 654,965 ‘excess deaths’ (i.e. deaths that occured above-and-beyond what was occuring prior to the invastion) up to the end of June 2006.
In other, more directly-applicable-to-Canada news, Sarkozy is planning to commit an additional 1,000 soldiers (via CBC News) to the Afghanistan occupation. No one should be surprised that those ‘minimum levels’ of international support that Manley touted in his slap-dash report on staying in Afghanistan are being met; oddly enough, with our gutless Parliament (including the equally gutless Liberal party) ‘requiring’ 1,000 soldiers from other countries in order to stay in Afghanistan, it seems like a peculiar coincidence that this exact number are about to be offered up. Hopefully there is significant domestic opposition in France to this, but even if France didn’t pony up the additional troops, I’m sure another NATO ally would.
Here’s hoping we won’t be talking about either occupation in another five years..
3 responses so far ↓
Mike Belgrove // March 24, 2008 at 10:52 am |
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.
We’ve opened up a discussion on our 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.
Mark // July 19, 2009 at 8:18 am |
I think you are a liar and not a soldier. Any real soldier would blame the enemy for their deaths. You blame your own countrymen. You are a traitor and I would shoot you myself if I ever met you.
mrpinko // July 20, 2009 at 11:29 am |
Mark, I’m definitely not a liar, although you are correct that I’m not a soldier.
Anyone who blames the ‘enemy’ for their deaths without giving even a cursory look at the bigger picture is a fool. If you put armed soldiers in a foreign country via an invasion, don’t be surprised when some of them die. The reason they are there had better be a damn good one, and frankly, the reason ‘the Coalition’ is in Iraq and Afghanistan is complete bullshit.
So, yes, I blame my own ‘countrymen’ (and women). They agreed to send soldiers to Afghanistan; they agreed to play patsy to the American war machine. They made a concious decision to either directly support (or not oppose) those decisions, and are therefore implicated in the blame for those decisions.
BTW, thanks for the death threat, though, that was a nice touch. I may not be a soldier, but at least I’m not a psychopath making death threats on the internets. Cheers!