http://www.juancole.com/2006/12/what-number-3000-hides-iraqi.html
Sunday, December 31, 2006
What the Number 3000 Hides
By Juan Cole
Iraqi guerrillas killed 6 more GIs and AP put the total dead in combat
at 2998.
The dreadful milestone of 3000 is upon us.
Like all statistics, this one is deceptive.
It does not include US troops killed in Afghanistan, that oddly
forgotten war where the US still has a division engaging in active
combat.
Nor is it nice to ignore NATO dead in Afghanistan, including French
and Canadians (yes).
The number does not include the Coalition troops killed in Iraq.
The sacrifices of the British, Italians, and others should be
included.
And why ignore the seriously wounded?
These brave warriors have brain damage, or spinal damage, or have lost
limbs or been burned and disfigured.
There are probably 8000 of them.
Their sacrifice should be foregrounded.
Life is not going to be easy for them, and they are not going to get
that much help from Bush.
Indeed, why not count all the wounded?
The number must be near 25000 by now.
Then there are all the Iraq Vets with post traumatic stress disorder
and a myriad of other combat related mental diseases.
There is alcoholism, domestic violence, divorce.
The true number of Americans and US allies who are in some sense
casualties of war is in the tens of thousands.
3000 is a horrible number.
But it is not the only dreadful number.
By concentrating on it, Washington politicians and the US press hide
from us the true magnitude of the problems we face in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
___________________________________________________
Above the bayonets, mixed and crossed,
Men saw a gray, gigantic ghost
Receding through the battle cloud,
And heard across the tempest loud
The death cry of a nation lost!
Will Henry Thompson
Harry
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