au, you're old enough to remember Vietnam, and well read enough to be aware of general history. A single death, "Theirs" or "Ours" is one death too many, and 800-some are 800 times worse. However, the US casualty count to this point in Iraq works out to a bit less than .6%, or somewhat less than 2 per day ... hardly "major casualties", from a purely objective statistical point of view, and without even bothering to correlate Own Force Losses with Opposing Force Losses. Over the course of any number of months, US casualties in Vietnam exceeded the total-to-date in Iraq, and even individual weeks saw greater numbers. The number of Americans to have died over nearly a year and a half in Iraq is roughly 2/3 the number of Americans who died aboard the USS Arizona, or roughly the same number of Americans who died in the first hour of the Normandy Invasion, or fewer than died per hour over the three days of Gettysburg. A functioning autonomous indigenous parliamentary government has replaced a tryanical despot who himself was responsible for literally millions of deaths through a generation-long reign of brutal terror. Hundreds of independent media sources ... newspapers, magazines, radio and television, have replaced an iron-bound state-controlled distribution of information. Schools and hospitals are function at above pre-war levels. Petroleum, fresh water, and electric power production are at or above pre-war levels. Popular support for the insurgents is low, ebbing every day, and borders on outright intollerance. 25,000,000 people no longer are slaves trembling in the awful grip of a tyranical regime. A few thousand jihadists are not going to reverse what has been set in motion ... in Iraq, or in the region as a whole. Perhaps you see a quagmire, I see a paradigm shift in the course of Middle Eastern History.
I think that this event back in may has been a big factor in the fatigue.
Quote:May 12, 2004
Democrats Outraged By Outrage at Outrage
A vicious cycle of outrage threatens to swallow up Washington following Sen. Inhofe's (R. Okla.) statement earlier this week that he was "more outraged by the outrage than he was by the treatment" of Abu Ghraib prisoners. Democrats immediately became outraged that he was more outraged by the outrage, and now Republicans are livid that Democrats are furious at Sen. Inhofe's acrimony.
Historians can recall few times as outrageous, but recall previous incidents in American politics, such as 1742, when the Tories were irked by ire, 1773, when the Whigs were fuming about wrath, or 1907, when populists were incensed by aggravation.
"All pales compared to the period when Mary Lincoln confessed to Abraham that she was piqued by temper," said Sydney Mayhew, a scholar in the field of acute exasperation.
Sen. Inhofe has previously been menaced by menace and mystified by mysticism, so his statements this week should not have been very surprising, said Mayhew.
And the effect on the citizenry? "All of this anger we're seeing in Congress right now," said Mayhew, "It probably just pisses them off."
Sauce. 
Listen, I think that Onion story is hilarious.
Okay?
Heck ... even I get a kick out of The Onion.
Adrian wrote:I think that this event back in may has been a big factor in the fatigue.
Quote:May 12, 2004
Democrats Outraged By Outrage at Outrage
A vicious cycle of outrage threatens to swallow up Washington following Sen. Inhofe's (R. Okla.) statement earlier this week that he was "more outraged by the outrage than he was by the treatment" of Abu Ghraib prisoners. Democrats immediately became outraged that he was more outraged by the outrage, and now Republicans are livid that Democrats are furious at Sen. Inhofe's acrimony.
Historians can recall few times as outrageous, but recall previous incidents in American politics, such as 1742, when the Tories were irked by ire, 1773, when the Whigs were fuming about wrath, or 1907, when populists were incensed by aggravation.
"All pales compared to the period when Mary Lincoln confessed to Abraham that she was piqued by temper," said Sydney Mayhew, a scholar in the field of acute exasperation.
Sen. Inhofe has previously been menaced by menace and mystified by mysticism, so his statements this week should not have been very surprising, said Mayhew.
And the effect on the citizenry? "All of this anger we're seeing in Congress right now," said Mayhew, "It probably just pisses them off."
Sauce.
I feel so much anger about all this. Grrrrrr
Adrian wrote:I think that this event back in may has been a big factor in the fatigue.
Quote:May 12, 2004
Democrats Outraged By Outrage at Outrage
A vicious cycle of outrage threatens to swallow up Washington following Sen. Inhofe's (R. Okla.) statement earlier this week that he was "more outraged by the outrage than he was by the treatment" of Abu Ghraib prisoners. Democrats immediately became outraged that he was more outraged by the outrage, and now Republicans are livid that Democrats are furious at Sen. Inhofe's acrimony.
Historians can recall few times as outrageous, but recall previous incidents in American politics, such as 1742, when the Tories were irked by ire, 1773, when the Whigs were fuming about wrath, or 1907, when populists were incensed by aggravation.
"All pales compared to the period when Mary Lincoln confessed to Abraham that she was piqued by temper," said Sydney Mayhew, a scholar in the field of acute exasperation.
Sen. Inhofe has previously been menaced by menace and mystified by mysticism, so his statements this week should not have been very surprising, said Mayhew.
And the effect on the citizenry? "All of this anger we're seeing in Congress right now," said Mayhew, "It probably just pisses them off."
Sauce.
I feel so much anger about all this. Grrrrrr
You can say that again, extra medium.
Oh, waitaminnit ... you did.
Generally, if you've clicked "Submit", your post got here, even if it appears to you the Post Reply page is hungup or the confirmation page doesn;t show up. Most times, anyway, not always. But to avoid double posts, only click "Submit" once. If things don't seem to be working out right, just copy your post, then click on "Your Posts" up at the top of the page. You'll prolly see that your post is already here. If not, just reopen the topic from your list, paste in your reply, and give it another shot. That's rarely nescessary, though.
ok, that story was funny <grins>
and adrian's was too ;-)
timberlandko
Saddam be damned. It was not our fight. We are neither the conscience or the policemen of the world. The US had every right to attack Afghanistan but none to invade Iraq.
As to saying in comparison to other military actions the losses were minimal, I say even the loss of one Americans life is one to many in a fight that was not ours.
As for our involvement in Viet Nam, there too the government misled the public. It was not till years later did we find out to what extent..
