| Author |
Message |
    
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 7426
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 10:35 am: | 
|
Instead of Kerry's cut and run, here's what's happening in Iraq..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_060615104853;_ylt=AkdoJ.9LMi.5105CoGnXMa1X6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
libs. |
Elgato
Citizen
Username: Elgato
Post Number: 68
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 12:01 pm: |
|
And this also....
Pentagon Says Military Deaths in Iraq Hit 2,500
By Will Dunham
The Boston Globe
Thursday 15 June 2006
Washington - The number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war has reached 2,500, the Pentagon said on Thursday, more than three years into a conflict that finds U.S. and allied foreign forces locked in a struggle with a resilient insurgency.
In addition, the Pentagon said 18,490 U.S. troops have been wounded in the war, which began in March 2003 with a U.S.-led invasion to topple President Saddam Hussein.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed.
"It's important to remember that there is a mission, and there is a greater good which sometimes necessitates tremendous sacrifice," said Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, deputy director for regional operations for the military's Joint Staff who formerly commanded U.S. forces in northern Iraq.
"Rather than focus on an aggregate number, I think it's more important for us to remember that there are individuals in that aggregate number ... to whom we should be very, very grateful, and to their families," Ham said.
On an average day in the war, about two U.S. troops are killed. In the average month, about 64 U.S. troops are killed.
Defense analysts noted that U.S. deaths in Iraq, while significant, are far fewer than in other protracted U.S. wars since World War Two. In the Vietnam War, 58,000 U.S. troops died. In the Korean War, 54,000 died.
Roadside bombs, known by the military as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are the biggest cause of U.S. casualties. Ham said despite good progress in detecting roadside bombs and the insurgents responsible for making and planting them, the overall numbers of these attacks have increased over the past several months.
Car bombs also remain a deadly threat, Ham said.
"Adaptive and Resilient"
The steadily mounting U.S. death toll reflects an insurgency that has not buckled despite facing off against a military super power, analysts said.
"They've been very adaptive and resilient," said defense analyst Ted Carpenter of the Cato Institute think tank. "That's one of the chief problems that an intervening force faces in any counterinsurgency war. You're fighting on the adversary's home turf and essentially all the enemy has to do is to out-wait the intervening power."
Military medical experts say the U.S. death toll would be even higher if not for advances in medical care and body armor that keep alive badly wounded troops who would have died in previous wars.
They point to: advances in body armor, with torso armor better protecting the chest and abdomen, heart and lungs and helmets better protecting the brain; improved in-country surgical capabilities allowing patients to be stabilized and quickly flown out of Iraq; and better prepared battlefield medics.
The deadliest month of the war was November 2004, when 137 U.S. troops died in a month when U.S. forces conducted a fierce offensive in the city of Falluja in the western Anbar province to deny Sunni Muslim insurgents a safe haven.
U.S. fatalities had dropped in five straight months from last November through this March, as insurgents appeared to focus more of their violence on Iraqi civilians and American-trained Iraqi government security forces.
But the U.S. death tolls in April and May were above average, and the Pentagon has acknowledged a recent surge in insurgent violence. |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 7432
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 12:09 pm: |
|
good point. Another reason why we won't give up on Iraq. Soldiers who have fought and died battling terrorism cannot be forgotten. We will win in Iraq. |
Hoops
Citizen
Username: Hoops
Post Number: 1480
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 12:21 pm: |
|
Please define -
1) Winning in Iraq
2) Winning the War on Terror
3) Freedom
4) Democracy
|
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 5104
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 12:23 pm: |
|
I thought we'd won Iraq three years ago when the chimp made his macho aircraft-carrier landing. Remember "Mission Accomplished"? |
S.L.K. 2.0
Citizen
Username: Scrotisloknows
Post Number: 1703
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 12:39 pm: |
|
tom-
Obviously you know squat about warfare...
-SLK |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 7436
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 12:57 pm: |
|
No doubt about that...Tom confuses overthrowing Saddam with the war on terror. That was one small part of a very big picture.
Notice the use of the "chimp" word. Once Liberals start with the name calling you can bet there's been a string of good news for America. It's how they react.
Remember folks, good news for America is bad news for liberals. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 5106
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 1:09 pm: |
|
Actually, Hoops posed two different questions about winning: Define winning in Iraq; and define winning the war on terror. I was commenting on the first.
But maybe you can shed some light on this "very big picture," 'cause what we see here from Planet Earth shows what looks like 80% of our effort going to keep Iraq together. If there's some very bigger picture out there it's pretty well hidden. The "global" part of the war -- Afghanistan, Indonesia, the Phillippines -- appears to be getting the sloppy seconds. And as for capturing the Big Kahuna, bin Laden, our Fearless Leader claims to not spend very much time on him.
So what exactly is this "very big picture," and how big is it that the trillion or so dollars we're pouring into Iraq is "one small part"? And when when President J. Fred Muggs said that the battle of Iraq was over and we and our allies had prevailed, what precisely did that mean, if anything?
And S.L.K., when we're taking the same town, pulling back and letting the insurgents back in, then taking it again, rinse, repeat, it looks like Vietnam -- nothing better than high-tech trench warfare. |
notehead
Supporter
Username: Notehead
Post Number: 3435
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 2:12 pm: |
|
Straw believes that America should keep sending soldiers to be killed in Iraq to somehow honor or validate the 2,500 deaths that we've already suffered.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.  |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 325
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 2:18 pm: |
|
Straw, thanks for the post. Over 18,000 troops wonded so far. But we have a President and Congress with vision. We could have increased veterans' benefits to help the wounded vets. But that would not have led to an improved economy.
Instead, our visionary president realized that it would be better to divert the funds from the vets and instead give a tax break to high income citizens and even do away with the death tax. Now, before you lieberals start carping about this again, follow the logic: The rich will spend that money, and the expenditures will generate jobs and the jobs will generate more income taxes and we can use those taxes to pay veterans' benefits.
Pure genius. Thanks Republicans! You get my vote again. |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 326
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 2:23 pm: |
|
Notehead. You incorrectly quoted Vice President, Dan Quale?
It went, "What a waste it is to lose one's mind." |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 7437
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 2:48 pm: |
|
John: You incorrectly spelled Quayle's name.. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 5107
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 2:51 pm: |
|
And everybody knows what a stickler Quayle is for spelling... |
notehead
Supporter
Username: Notehead
Post Number: 3443
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 - 4:31 pm: |
|
 |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page