This is a very sad “milestone” to reach:
Now the death toll is 9/11 times two.
U.S. military deaths from Iraq and Afghanistan now match those of the most devastating terrorist attack in America’s history, the trigger for what came next. Add casualties from chasing terrorists elsewhere in the world, and the total has passed the Sept. 11 figure.
The latest milestone for a country at war comes without commemoration. It also may well come without the precision of knowing who is the 2,973rd man or woman of arms to die in conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, or just when it happens. The terrorist attacks killed 2,973 victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Not for the first time, war that was started to answer death has resulted in at least as much death for the country that was first attacked, quite apart from the higher numbers of enemy and civilians killed.
Of course the greatest contribution to this tally comes from that war of choice -Iraq. We are just 2 short of 2,700 lives lost in that failed experiment of Bush’s. Just remember – if you vote for Republican’s this fall, you vote to have more of our brave young men and women killed. Their lives deserve justice and we need to honor them by having Bush answer to his lies that lead this country to war.