Overall US death toll in Iraq hits 4,ooo

"BAGHDAD – The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq rose to 4,ooo after four soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, a grim milestone that is likely to fuel calls for the withdrawal of American forces as the war enters its sixth year." [emphasis added]

"Grim"?

With 4,ooo dead and less than 4o,ooo injured we should probably sober ourselves by looking at the ("grim") receiving end of our guns:

~ More than one million Iraqis have been killed…

~ Countless millions injured, crippled, mentally scarred while we marvel at how well our medicine and technology protects "our troops" (more than 90% are saved by our glorious assistance to OURSELVES)…

~ More than four million displaced with over half being forced out of the country…

~ Malnutrition in children has more than doubled…

~ Cancer rates are still increasing thanks to our use of depleted uranium…

~ Cholera is on the rise…

While, to some, 4,ooo might seem like a small price to pay for a war when considering wars of the past. But the argument sours when we add into the equation the consequences our victims have endured.

And, this doesn’t include all the murdered, injured, tortured, oppressed during the Ba’athist reign that the CIA brought into power; it doesn’t count all the Iraqi’s and Iranians killed during the Iran-Iraq War from 1980-1988 that the US supplied arms to both sides; It doesn’t count all those killed and slaughtered during the first Gulf War with its "turkey shoot," intentional targeting of water treatment facitilities to monitor the effects of the sanctions as they deny access to vital materials needed to repair, or the burying alive of thousands of Iraqi soldiers in trenches with bulldozers; it doesn’t count all those killed by Saddam during the uprisings that George H W Bush called for and then allowed Saddam to brutally crush; it doesn’t count the more than half-a-million children – not to mention the adults – killed during the sanctions that our former-Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, said "was worth it"; and it doesn’t count all the bombings in the illegal No-Fly Zones or the "spikes of activity" before the official launch of the 2003 war.

4,ooo is, indeed, a small price to pay for all the destruction brought to one country in less than half-a-century, especially while we enjoy so much comfort and leizure. I guess we should reflect on what price we SHOULD be paying. Perhaps in the forms of impeachments, war crimes tribunals and reparations.

*update:

The linked articles first paragraph has been modified since I first referenced it:

"U.S. officials said Monday they will press forward in the fight against extremists in Iraq a day after the overall U.S. death toll in the five-year conflict rose to 4,000."

That is right, without question or criticism the purpose of this war has been changed to the "fight against extremists in Iraq."

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