Topic: Death Toll

And the war goes on…and the soldiers die

By Christine Anne Piesyk | March 24, 2008 |

FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties will sponsor a candlelight vigil tonight at 7 p.m. at Public Square.  The event will include prayers, readings and a vigil.

Another landmark has passed in the Iraq War: 4000 American soldiers killed. The price tag that is these lives doesn’t show up in the surge numbers or the war planning budget - there is no way it can — other than the price of body bags and the cost of the flight back home. Whatever “victim” benefits may be assigned to their survivors.

I sit here today, submerged in a sadness of deja vu, having done all of this before — nearly 40 years ago — in another time and place, another military town with another military base, when thousands of other soldiers who had a one way trip to war.

It is ironic that this number came on one of the holiest days of the Christian community, and that it has been treated with more silence and resignation than any other numerical landmark of the Iraq conflict. I am an activist opposed to the war, but that does not mean I do not support our troops. Our troops are great; they and their families deserve much more than the shoddy treatment they receive via multiple deployments, and post deployment care (or lack thereof).

This is not a war the American people want; it is (or has devolved into) an administrative war waged by a national leadership — the Bush regime — that is in total disconnect with the people. This is a war for which we are spending not billions but trillions of dollars with little to show for those dollars but bodies — our troops, “enemy” troops, and tens of thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire. This a war riddled with underestimations, bad planning, corruption, and disinformation. To say nothing of the erosion of our own civil liberties. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues, Opinion, Politics | No Comments

3500 and counting; it’s not just an American tragedy …

By Christine Anne Piesyk | June 6, 2007 |

How many more is it going to take to get YOU to start speaking out!

“… killed by a bomb while on patrol … had only been stationed in Iraq for a little more than a month …”

“… the vehicle he was in ran over an explosive device …”

“… killed when a roadside bomb detonated during combat operations …”

With each such statement, somewhere in America hearts are broken, dreams shattered, lives forever changed. On Wednesday at noon, the Iraq casualty count hovered at 3498. By 4 p.m. it crosses another line in the sand: 3500. To be specific: 3503.

Just over a week ago, as veterans and patriots across American marked Memorial Day with grief and honor, the number of American casualties in the sands of Iraq stood at 3,452. Each day thereafter added to that count, and here we stand.

One can spin the numbers in all kinds of ways, but the fact is we are losing husbands, wives, fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters, daughters and sons at an average of 4-5 per day. Just in Iraq. Then there is Afghanistan. And losses incurred in both countries by coalition forces. Add the Iraq military body count. And the horrendous toll of Iraqi civilian casualties. It’s not just an American tragedy. It never was. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues, Opinion, Politics | 3 Comments

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