Topic: US Army

Battlefield Iraq: Replacements needed

By Christine Anne Piesyk | August 28, 2007 |

Replacements needed.

Despite the planned “surge” of additional U.S. troops in Iraq, the body count of American soldiers killed there seems to have slowed bit since the beginning of summer, but Battlefield Iraq remains bloodied — in many cases, by the lifeblood of bystanders caught in the crossfire of a war supposedly “won” over three years ago.

As of Tuesday evening, August 28, Iraq had claimed the lives of 3,732 American soldiers. The most recent is Pasadena, California, Marine, Lance Corporal Rogelio A. Ramirez, whose home base was Camp Pendleton; he became the latest US casualty, according to the statistical website icasualties.org. Ramirez died in Al Anbar province in “combat operations.” He was #3732.

While the stream of flag draped coffins has slowed from the heavy casualty reports of early summer, the Iraq landscape remains soaked in blood. Four people, Shi’ite pilgrims to a religious site in Kerbala, were killed, and 18 others wounded today. In another Iraq city, 35 people were killed and 180 injured at a Shia religious festival. Now an estimated 1,000,000 pilgrims have been ordered to abandon a major spiritual celebration in Kerbala, told to simply leave the city and put their faith on hold as some of their numbers are being slaughtered and the rest are potential targets in a mix of civil and holy wars. And that’s just today. The American body count will continue to climb with each day, each week of deployment. And American blood and Iraqi blood all look the same in the sand. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion, Politics | 2 Comments

The Leaf Chronicle should be ashamed

By Bill Larson | June 28, 2007 |

It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety’s sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way. - Mark Twain’s War Prayer

In the Leaf Chronicle today was an un-attributed editorial, for which any organization that prides it’s self on having the highest journalistic standards should be ashamed for publishing. Their editorial paints those who disagree with the policies of politicians with the taint of not supporting the troops, of disloyalty. Indeed they proclaim that America would do well to heed the words of the commander of the 101st airborne division:

The last thing that you want to have happen is an Army in combat, with people saying that we really question what our government is having them do - Major General Jeffery J. Schloesser, the commander of the 101st airborne division

I could not disagree more. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion | 2 Comments

A Soldier’s Story - An Uncalculated Cost of Modern War

By Turner McCullough Jr. | June 11, 2007 |

As the U. S. forces casualty count of the Iraq War continues to climb, now exceeding 3,500, this news story of a Fort Campbell soldier’s struggle to retain his composure and regain his sanity caught my attention.

The CNN report highlights an underreported aspect of the War On Terror. The fact that this soldier is right here in our midst makes the story all the more compelling. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Politics | 1 Comment »

Soldiers in Iraq shoot dog

By Bill Larson | July 20, 2006 |

I was browsing both You Tube and Google video for interesting videos to share with the readers of this site when I stumbled across this one. 

It shows a army patrol in Iraq and a doctor accompanying them shoots a dog, which he claimed was coming at him. The commentator in the video disagreed, and he also states that several of the soldiers were disgusted with the incident and one asked:

What’s the doctor doing out here, with a gun!

I personally think this is sad incident and, and can not help but to wonder how much this and other similar incidents reflects on us as a people, and on us as a nation in the eyes of the Iraqi citizens. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Politics | 1 Comment »