“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” – Douglas Adams
You’ll notice a theme for this installment of the Sunday Funnies. I decided to stick with political cartoons that dealt with Bush’s so called new plan to “surge” the military numbers in Iraq for an indefinite period. I’m also including a video from The Daily Show, because in under 2 minutes Jon Stewart manages to best explain this “new” plan.
If anyone knows how to get images to sit side-by-side in wordpress instead of one under the other, let me know.
Once again we’ve reached a milestone that should not be looked at with pride.
The U.S. military on Tuesday announced the deaths of seven more American soldiers, pushing the U.S. military death toll since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003 to at least 2,978 — five more than the number killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. - MSNBC
These deaths occurred during another day of violence in Iraq which saw the deaths of 44 more Iraqi’s.
So when will Bush announce his new policy toward the war in Iraq? That announcement is not expected until his State of the Union address on January 23rd.
How many more will have to die while Bush “decides” on a new policy? And just how many more will die if Bush pushes through the only option getting any play lately (sending in more troops)?
Sadly, we’ve been given the time to find out.
Cross posted on Bring It On!
I was surprised by the one-line summary of the story in the Washington Post that read
3rd Infantry Division Will Be the First Deployed for a Third Year-Long Tour
To be honest, I thought we already had divisions sent in for a 3rd tour. That’s why I was surprised by the summary. What I went on to read, though, didn’t surprise me. It sadden me.
The 3rd Infantry Division has already lost 317 soldiers in Iraq. Now they are being deployed to Ramadi in the western Anbar province, a very volatile place.
But this story wasn’t just about the 3rd Infantry Division going to Iraq for a 3rd year long tour. It was also about what happened to the families of the 3rd Infantry because of their year in, year out rotations to Iraq.
According to the WaPo article, the year in Iraq, year home lifestyle effects many decisions for these families
They mandate when troops can marry and have children. They sever relationships that cannot sustain the stress of absence or danger. And they lead some couples to pray for the war to end.
Soldier’s families wanting to have children have to decide when they want to time the pregnancy and birth. Should the child be born while dad is away in Iraq? Or should the child be born while he is home but spend its first year away from its father? An additional concern for these families, if the soldier is seriously wounded or killed, how will the child grow up to know their father?
Single soldiers worry about finding a spouse. If they’ve met someone while on their tour stateside, some rush to wed while others hope that the girlfriend or boyfriend will still be there when they get back from Iraq. A hasty wedding often leads to a divorce when the relationship can’t hold up under the distance and worry of a soldier in Iraq. The divorce rate since 2001 is up for members of the Army.
Cross posted on Bring It On!
Way back in during the Gulf War (1991), Dick Cheney said that going into Iraq and trying to put a new government in place would be a “quagmire.” What a difference a decade makes.
Actually, it doesn’t make much of a difference. The only difference is that now Cheney & friends think going into Iraq was a brilliant idea. They just can’t see the quagmire that Iraq has become.
The U.S. death toll in Iraq for the month of October 2006 alone is over 100. That’s 100+ funerals that Bush will not be attending. It’s also another 100+ flag draped coffins that the administration won’t let you see.
Seth Pollack, an 8-year veteran who served in the first Gulf War, stated
This country has a lot of history where commanders visit wounded soldiers and commanders talked to families of deceased soldiers and commanders attend funerals. It’s just one of these understood traditions. At the company level, the division level … the general tradition is to honor the soldier, and the way you honor these soldiers is to have high-ranking officials attend the funeral. For the President not to have attended any is simply disrespectful.
In all honesty, this lack of attention to the U.S. military dead should come as no surprise to anyone. This administration has asked for cuts or elimination of funding for combat pay, Veterans Administration expenditures (per capita), Veterans life insurance benefits, and base housing improvements. Even while cutting Vets benefits, the administration has been increasing active military deployment.
Should we really be calling on our troops to potentially sacrifice their lives while cutting their benefits and services when they finally return home? Or is the lack of attention paid to our war dead by the administration the equivalent of hanging their head in shame?
Cross posted on Bring It On!
