Iraq 1000+
There were more military fatalities in Iraq in August than there were in July. And more fatalities in July than there were in June. And the number of fatalities this summer have already surpassed those of last summer. And the death toll of American military in Iraq has now surpassed 1,000 while the number of U.S. wounded is beyond 7,000.
In July 2003, I cited a quote that there were 10 to 25 attacks on US soldiers and Marines every day in Iraq. The U.S. military counted 2,700 attacks on military personnel last month, averaging 87 per day.
Obviously things aren’t getting better in Iraq, certainly not for the American solider. And while Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and those from this administration insist that we have turned the corner in Iraq, it sure doesn’t seem like it. It seems more like the president has stuck the collective American finger in the levee which is Iraq, and the consequences of keeping the finger there or pulling it out will both result in a flood of more death.
In the meantime, a war that we were told would cost “very little” because of the oil and assets that were held by Iraq, has now cost the American taxpayer somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 billion, with expected requests for more money following the November election.
In the meantime, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. Yet the Bush administration just changes it’s rational for the invasion as if no one remembers all that they have said in the recent past. And rather than discuss the problems, solutions, and our direction at a time when more of the electorate is actually listening, they choose instead to provide vague generalities and slap themselves on the back for a job well done.