“…Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.
In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment — yet, it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it. Your courage, your willingness to face danger for your country and for each other, made this day possible. Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.”
Reading these words again, I wonder how many chickenhawks patted themselves on the back that day and thought they were showing us how wrong we were to be against the war. They must have felt quite vindicated on that day.
However, what I remember is thinking was how I hoped that it all was over. I was wrong, as well.
The next week, the reality of the war set in on me. I remember hearing a name mentioned on the news. I caught the end of the segment but, I did hear that this person was from my hometown and I got a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I search the local TV and newspaper sites to confirm what I thought was true — the nephew of an old friend was killed while guarding a bridge in Iraq. He was 23, recently married and due to come home. Naively, I thought it was particularly terrible because the war was over and the troops would be coming home soon.
Again, I was wrong.
So, here we are, 5 years later and we have to admit that the mission was not accomplished and since that day, the day Bush declared the war over, the lion’s share of casualties and deaths in Iraq have occurred. Prior to the announcement of “Mission Accomplished”, 140 soldiers had died. Today, that number stands at 4,000 and counting.
Of course, if you ask Bush and Co., this was all worth it.
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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.
The image, of course, is of Air Force personnel receiving the bodies of our war dead from Iraq and Afghanistan at Dover (Delaware) Air Force Base.
In March 2003 the Defense Department banned photographing the returning coffins or distributing these images to the public. A citizen journalist, Russ Kick, filed a Freedom of Information request for access to these images. It was rejected; he appealed. To his shock, the Air Force began sending him DVDs of hundreds of official Dover images.
Russ Kick’s website, “The Memory Hole” (named for a furnace where they burn documents in “1984″), is very much worth a visit.
http://www.thememoryhole.org/w.....tos/dover/
Every one of these images is powerful. But seeing dozens of them, each of dozens of flag-drapped coffins of our combat dead from two ongoing wars, brings home a startling additional dimension. Kick’s successful demand to let the American public see these photographs of this mournful assembly line shows us startlingly what we have done and continue to do, 5 years and 4000 war dead later, to our neighbors’ children.
I’m a Vietnam War-era Army vet. It’s extremely important to understand that nothing’s changed (other than cosmetically) from the draft to the euphemistically named “All Volunteer” military. The Iraq War is based on administration lies, and it just drags on, and keeps killing and maiming our neighbors’ kids, forever. Just like the Vietnam War.
And drafted or “volunteered” (a very inaccurate term for how the combat military really fills its ranks), every death of one of our neighbors’ kids in a scoundrel’s war (Lincoln’s phrase about Polk’s Mexican War) is an equal tragedy. Please challenge anybody who says, “Well, they all knew what they were getting themselves into.”
The good news is that citizen protest ended the Vietnam War. We could end the Iraq war, too. If we don’t, McCain has a vision of US troops in Iraq for 100 years.
I’m very grateful to Russ Kick. If I ran a war like Iraq, I sure wouldn’t want the American people to see what the end result is.
This is what we have done, this is what we continue to permit and tolerate, this is what it looks like.
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