It’s been five years since President George W. Bush started his "war on terror" in Iraq, and it seems the turmoil has only just begun. The death toll reached the 4,000 mark late Sunday night in Baghdad when four service men were killed by an improvised explosive device. Although this number is tremendously lower than its predecessors; many fallen soldiers have left incredible stories of fear, hope, doubt, confidence, disillusion, and all feelings in between. This has had a profound impact on what many Americans feel is a "meaningless" war started by our government. I believe the people who call it such, have clearly never been close to a service member. Having a best friend as a marine, who is currently serving in Iraq, has given me a unique look into the mind of a soldier. I never believed we needed to fight another war in Iraq, with the obvious criminals of 9/11 being in Afghanistan, yet the men and women in uniform have done astonishing things for the Iraqi people. My friend Corey tells me at times it’s a dirty job, but it’s his job and he loves it. I find this self sacrificing mentality incredibly admiral and noble. 4,000 Americans have died answering their countries calling, not out of necessity, but to help try to give the people of Iraq a better life. I consider my political views extremely liberal and fully support Obama, However; I believe that all of the work done in Iraq could be threatened in the upcoming presidential election. With the Democrats having the house majority, and Barrack Obama's strong stances on pulling out of Iraq, we could very possibly see all these hard works go to waste. Whoever becomes our next president will surly inherit the atrocious problems Bush has bestowed on our nation. I have full faith that either one of the Democratic hopefuls could fix many of our countries problems, but I disagree (with Obama) that we should immediately begin to pull out of Iraq. I agree that there was no necessity to invade the country, but what about the 4,000 death soldiers? Did they all die for nothing? If we leave now all the good that has been done will inevitability be destroyed. Unfortunately, Mr. Bush has committed our country to a nonessential war, but It is in no way meaningless and we must finish what he has started.
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U.S Death Toll in Iraq War Reaches 4,000
It is not unfortunate that the President “has committed our country to a nonessential war” it’s that so called “liberal thinkers” like yourself have swallowed the exact same lie as the so called “conservative thinkers”. Allow me to introduce myself and my “unique perspective”. I’m Sergeant Michael Nordstrom USMC and my two tours in the name of the noble cause of Iraq has given me a unique perspective. I would first like to know what you refer to as “meaningless war”, is any war “meaningful”? I think the share holders of Halliburton stock would find this a VERY meaningful war. Meaning their pockets are full. The people of Iraq would also probably be able to find some meaning in this meaningless war. Especially, when taking into account that the IBC(Iraq Body Count) puts documented war related deaths at over 90,000 and total deaths since the start of the war is estimated at over a million with 5 to 7 million Iraqis refugees still displaced. I think this shows what is the deadly serious meaning of “meaningless wars”.
But at least we are way ahead(or behind) in the body count. That is unless you take into account the service members who die of their wounds out of country, apparently they don’t count the same, and you probably better toss in the ones who commit suicide because of undiagnosed post traumatic stress disorder. Also don’t forget the thousands of wounded, many who will face the rest of their lives as amputees or permanently disabled. Maybe you shouldn’t put so much in the value on each sides losses.
I’m also curious about your friend Corey. What is the dirty job he’s having to do to bring freedom to Iraqis. Is it publicly shaming people at a checkpoint? Or maybe kicking in the door to a house Gestapo style in the dead of night? Maybe he’s lucky enough to drive the roads of Iraq, keeping KBR goods and services flowing in and out of U.S. bases. Does he get to help in the construction of all the new hospitals and schools? Though you would think they might focus on trying to get running water, electricity, and oh yeah solving the fuel crisis the country with the 2nd largest oil reserves in the world. You should ask him if a civilian contractor replaced him so he could stand guard. Whatever the rewarding work he is doing I do hope he isn’t have to kill too many Iraqis to get them to understand freedom, they don’t seem to understand they are free now as long as they do what we say.
I would like to know where you came up with the idea that a change in Iraq policy, such as reducing troop levels, is going to result in dead peoples’ “hard work” going to waste. How many more need to die be enough to justify the 4,000 already killed. The “good” we have done has already been lost and only gets worse as this war stagnates. The situation in Iraq is far worse then in 2003. The Iraq government is corrupt and purposely divided in order to keep the region in turmoil. The Iraq Army is impotent, and as recent combat shows, still unable to fight without heavy U.S. military assistance. The living situation is the worst it has been yet in the 5 years of conflict, with the most basic of services barely functioning. I challenge you to go yourself and protect these “good works” if they are so important to you. For a Democratic supporter you sure spout the same Republican nonsense, like those who believe that not supporting war spending will leave the troops without beans and bullets in Iraq?
If you plan to continue to call yourself a liberal thinker then think liberally. Do not justify violence with violence. Iraq will resolve itself however it will with or without U.S. interference. Educate yourself on the actual situation and encourage your Marine friend to do the same. It’s easy to believe a lie if you don’t know the truth. The “obvious criminals of 9/11” aren’t in Afghanistan they are in the White House. And if you really want to know what I think those 4,000 dead service members really want is to not be dead.
I support Derek’s opinion about the war in Iraq and what we should do about it. I support it because I have the same beliefs and thoughts about it. Of course it was never a good idea for Bush to send our troops to Iraq in the first place, but since, like Derek said: 4000 soldiers lost their lives “to help try to give the people of Iraq a better life”. Very generous, BUT what about mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives and kids who lost their family members to the war? What about those people going through pain of loosing their loved ones to this war, and now almost the whole Nation is against it. What about them? I don’t think that Bush considered that as much as he should have.
I strongly agree with Obama's plan to pull our troops out of Iraq. Derek thinks that since so many soldiers lost their lives to this war then we should stay and finish what we started. I really think that we shouldn’t . I am not an American, I came from Ukraine, but I love this country and I care about it and it’s people. Like I said before – we lost TOO many lives, and we shouldn’t loose any more!
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