As I noted in a comment in an unrelated thread, I would be apoplectic if my son, who served in Baghdad and Kandahar, were still in the military. More than half of the soldiers killed are in the 17-22 year old age bracket that my son is STILL in. Why aren't we seeing as much about their lives as we've seen about the students killed at VT last week? They have clean-cut, babyfaces too - here's a pic of my son on his "freedom flight" out of the war zone:
No one seems to give a flip that the casualty count is "surging" along with the tour extensions and increased number of soldiers in Iraq.
As bad as the casualty metrics are for MNF forces, they are minimal compared to what Iraqi civilians face as they try to lead their daily lives and survive. Here's a sampling of civilian deaths just within the past week:
04/23/07 AP: Suicide bombings around Iraq kill 27
Three suicide bombers launched attacks in different parts of Iraq on Monday, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 60 on Monday, police and politicians said.
04/23/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill 1, wound 3 in random shootings in Baghdad
Gunmen killed a person and wounded three others in a random shooting on Sunday in the southern Saidiya district of Baghdad, police said.
04/23/07 Reuters: Suicide bomber kills 6 near Green Zone
Six people were killed and 14 wounded when a suicide bomber blew up in a restaurant near the entrance to the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government offices, police said.
04/22/07 Reuters: 22 bodies found in Baghdad over weekend
Police found 11 bodies in different areas of Baghdad in the past 24 hours...The bodies of 11 people were found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Saturday, police said.
04/22/07 Reuters: Motar fire kills 2, wounds 5 in Baghdad's Abu Dsheir district
Mortar rounds landed in the Abu Dsheir district in southern Baghdad killing two people and wounding five, police said.
04/22/07 AFP: Gunmen kill religious minority members
UNIDENTIFIED gunmen dragged 21 members of northern Iraq's Yezidi religious minority from a bus and shot them dead by the roadside, said police Brigadier General Mohammed El-Waqa'a.
04/22/07 AP: Two Suicide Car Bombs Kill 13 in Baghdad
Two suicide car bombers attacked a police station Sunday in western Baghdad, killing at least 13 people and wounding 82, police said. The bombs exploded as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived in Cairo on the first stop of a four-nation...
04/22/07 Reuters: Mortar rounds kill 2 wound 3 in Mahmudiya
A mortar round killed a person and wounded three others in the town of Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
04/22/07 Reuter: Eleven bodies found in Baghdad
The bodies of 11 people were found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Saturday, police said.
04/22/07 Reuters: 2 Car bombs in Madaen kill 1, wound 5
Two car bombs killed one person and wounded five others in Madaen, about 45 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, on Saturday, police said.
04/22/07 Reuters: Mortar rounds hit residential district - 2 killed
A mortar round which landed in a residential district killed two people and wounded two others in the southern Doura district of Baghdad, police said.
04/22/07 Reuters: Secretary of Hizb Allah Movement escapes attack
Abu Mujahid al-Maliki, , escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen threw a grenade at his car. Security committee head Hakim al-Mayahi said Maliki was wounded and one of his guards was killed...
04/21/07 Reuters: Mussayab Mayor killed in ambush
Mussayab Mayor Mehdi Abdul Hussein al-Najem and two of his bodyguards were killed in an ambush, police said. A roadside bomb exploded next to their vehicles in the attack at Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, and gunmen then opened fire.
04/21/07 AP: Fallujah loses 4th city council chairman to assassination
The 65-year-old Sunni sheik was the only one who campaigned to take the helm of the Fallujah city council after three previous chairmen were gunned down by suspected Sunni insurgents.
04/21/07 Reuters: Civilian found dead in Mussayab
An Iraqi civilian was found shot dead in Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said
04/21/07 Reuters: Gunmen storm house, kill family of four
Gunmen stormed a house and killed four members of the same family, including a wife, husband and their two children in the city of Kirkuk, police said.
04/21/07 Reuters: 8 bodies found in Khalis
The bodies of eight people were found in Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source said. All showed signs of torture and four had been beheaded.
04/21/07 dpa: Explosion reported in Sadr City
An explosion ripped through the Shiite-dominated Sadr City in eastern Baghdad on Saturday, killing a number of persons and wounding several others, Voices of Iraq news agency reported.
04/21/07 AP: Polish Soldier Killed in Iraq, 4 Wounded
A Polish soldier was killed and four others were wounded when their convoy hit a roadside bomb in Iraq...The soldier, 25-year-old Tomasz Jura, was killed in the central city of Diwaniyah when the convoy hit an improvised explosive device Friday night...
04/21/07 Xinhua: 2 killed in car bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City
At least two people were killed and five others wounded in a car bomb attack in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.
04/20/07 Reuters: 1 civilian killed, 8 U.S. troops wounded near Saqlawiya
One civilian was killed and eight U.S. troops wounded in a suicide attack on a U.S. checkpoint near Saqlawiya, near Falluja...the U.S. military said. A dump truck loaded with explosives detonated under a highway
overpass...
04/20/07 MCT: 19 bodies found in Baghdad
19 anonymous bodies were found in Baghdad today. 14 bodies were found in Karkh, the western part of Baghdad in the following neighborhoods (3 bodies in Bayaa, 3 bodies Amil, 2 bodies in Amiriyah, 2 bodies in Saidiyah, 2 bodies in Doura....
04/20/07 KUNA: Eight people killed, seven injured in car blast in Falujah
Eight people were killed and seven injured in a car bomb attack in northern Falujah Friday while US Defense Secretary Robert Gates was visiting the Iraqi capital, police said.
04/20/07 Reuters: Mortar rounds kill civilian in eastern Baghdad
Two mortar rounds landed in a residential area of eastern Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding another four, police said.
04/20/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill civilians in Falluja and Kufa
Gunmen shot dead a civilian and wounded two others in a drive-by shooting in Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said...Gunmen killed a civilian in a drive-by shooting in central Kufa, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
04/20/07 Reuters: Suicide bomber kills 2 in Falluja
A suicide truck bomber targeting a police station near Falluja killed two civilians and wounded 37, police said.
04/19/07 MCT: 20 corpses found in Baghdad today
20 corpses were found in Baghdad today. 17 were in the west(Kharkh): 4 in Dora, 3 in Bayaa, 2 in Amiriya, 2 in Mahmudiya, 2 in Jihad, 2 in Amil, 1 in Mansour, 1 in Hurriya. 3 were found in east(Rusafa): 1 in Adhamiya, 1 in Ma'amil, 1 in Sadr City.
04/19/07 MCT: Roadside bomb wounds 11 civilians in Mosul
Around 3 pm, a roadside bomb exploded in Mosul when an American patrol passed in the downtown injuring 11 civilians. There was no information on American casualties.
04/19/07 MCT: Two civilians killed by gunmen southeast of Tikrit
Around 11 am, two civilians were killed by gunmen near the court of Al-Zahra neighborhood in Dujail ().
04/19/07 Reuters: Mortar fire kills 1, wounds 6 in separate incidents
A mortar round landed on a house, wounding three people in Diwaniya south of Baghdad, police said...A mortar round landed on a house, killing one person and wounding three in the northwestern district of Kadhimiya, the interior ministry said.
04/19/07 Reuters: Four charred bodies found south of Mosul
Police said they found four charred bodies inside a car in the town of Shirqat, south of Mosul.
04/19/07 Reuters: Gunmen wounded 7 employees of oil company in Kirkuk,
Gunmen wounded seven employees working in the North Oil Company when they attacked their vehicle in Kirkuk, police said.
04/19/07 AP: 11 dead after suicide car bomb hits fuel truck in Baghdad
A suicide car bomber rammed into a fuel truck today in central Baghdad, killing at least 11 people, police said. Some 28 others were wounded by the blast, which happened around 1:15 p.m. in the mostly Shiite Muslim Karradah district...
04/19/07 playfuls.com: Mortar Shells Kill Three Iraqis
The death toll rose Thursday in Baghdad, with at least three Iraqis were killed and one wounded in a mortar shell attack in the part southern of the city, according to the Iraqi police.
04/18/07 Reuters: Eight bodies found in Mosul
Eight bodies were discovered in Mosul, 390 km (240 km) north of Baghdad, a hospital source said.
04/18/07 Reuters: Another 25 decomposed bodies found in Ramadi
Another 25 decomposed bodies were found in a school in Ramadi, 110 km (70 miles) west of Baghdad, police said. The latest discovery came a day after 17 bodies were found in a deserted school in Ramadi.
04/18/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill son of Iraq's deputy interior minister
Gunmen killed three people in an attack on a vehicle near Baiji, north of Baghdad, police said. Those killed were the son of Iraq's deputy interior minister and his two bodyguards.
04/18/07 Reuters: 25 bodies found in Baghdad
The bodies of 25 people were found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
04/18/07 Reuters: Gunman kill judge, wife and son on Kirkuk
Gunmen wounded a judge, his wife and son in a drive-by shooting in Kirkuk, 250 km (150 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
04/18/07 Reuters: Four wounded by mortar rounds in Baghdad
Four people were wounded by a mortar round which landed in the residential district of Dora in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
04/18/07 AFP: Car bomb avalanche slaughters 160 in Baghdad
An avalanche of car bomb attacks on Shiite districts of Baghdad slaughtered 160 people on Wednesday and delivered a savage blow to the credibility of two-month-old US security plan.
04/18/07 AFP: Bomb kills 3, wounds 5 in Baghdad's Al-Jhumuriyah district
a bomb hidden in a parked car killed three civilians and wounded five in the central Al-Jhumuriyah district, the official said.
04/18/07 AFP: Bomb kills 3 near hospital in Baghdad's Karrada district
Another car bombing ripped through a main road near a private hospital, killing three civilians and wounding seven others in the central Karrada district.
04/18/07 AFP: Suicide bomber kills 10 in Baghdad
A suicide bomber blew up his car, targeting a police patrol in Baghdad's western Uwairej area. The blast killed four policemen and wounded six civilians.
04/17/07 Reuters: Suicide bomber kills civilian near Mosul
A suicide bomber driving a tanker targeting a police patrol east of Mosul killed one civilian and wounded four Iraqi soldiers, police said.
04/17/07 Reuters: Nine bodies found in Mosul
Nine bodies were found in different parts of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, morgue sources said.
04/17/07 AP: 17 decomposing bodies found in Ramadi
Police in Ramadi uncovered 17 decomposing corpses buried beneath two schoolyards in a district that until recently was under the control of al-Qaida fighters. At least 85 people were killed or found dead across the country Tuesday.
04/17/07 Reuters: Mortar rounds kill 1, wound 3 in Baghdad
A mortar round landed in a residential district in southern Baghdad, killing one person and wounded three others on Monday, police said.
04/17/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill university professor in southern Baghdad,
Gunmen killed a university professor in al-Saidiya district in southern Baghdad, police said.
04/17/07 Reuters: 11 bodies found in Baghdad, 3 near Suwayra
he bodies of 11 people were found shot in different districts of Baghdad, police said...the bodies of three men, two shot and the third decapitated, were retrieved from a river near the town of Suwayra, 40 km south of Baghdad, police said.
04/17/07 dpa: Gunmen Attack In Iraqi Villages, Two Killed
Gunmen attacked two villages in north-eastern Baquba, killing two Iraqis, DPA news agency reported, citing local residents. The attack in the two Iraqi villages, Abu Sibaa and Mihwala, started early in the morning and lasted more than an hour.
04/16/07 Reuters: Mortar rounds wound 4 in northern Baghdad
A mortar round landed in a mostly Shi'ite district of northern Baghdad wounding four people, police said.
04/16/07 Reuters: Roadside bombs wound 3 civilians, 3 policemen in Baghdad
A roadside bomb wounded three people in northern Baghdad on Sunday, police said...A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded three policemen in the southern Jadriya district of Baghdad on Sunday, police said.
04/16/07 Reuters: University professor killed in Mosul, 6 bodies found
Gunmen killed a university professor near his house in Mosul, police said...The bodies of six people, including a policeman, who had been shot were found in different districts of Mosul, police said.
04/16/07 Reuters: In Hawija gunmen kill Iman, 3 bodies found
Gunmen killed the imam of a Sunni mosque in the town of Hawija, 70 km southwest of Kirkuk, police said...The bodies of three people were found tortured and shot near the town of Hawija, police said.
04/16/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill Dean of Political Science College in Mosul
Gunmen killed Talal al-Jalili, the Dean of the Political Science College, in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, police said.
04/16/07 Reuters: Seven bodies found in Falluja
The bodies of seven people were found shot in the Sunni stronghold of Falluja, police said.
04/16/07 Reuter: Gunman kidnapped nine workers and killed one
Gunmen kidnapped nine workers and killed one on the way to Himreen, about 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
04/16/07 Reuters: Car bomb kills 2 civilians, 5 civilians kidnapped in Ishaqi
A suicide car bomber targeting a police directorate killed two civilians and wounded three policemen in Ishaqi, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad. Ten cars were destroyed...Gunmen kidnapped five civilians in their cars in Ishaqi, police said.
04/16/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill senior member of the former Baath party in Mosul
Gunmen killed Mohammed Abdullah al-Zubaidi, a senior member of the former Baath party in western Mosul, about 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a medical source at the Mosul morgue said.
Does anybody even care about these deaths and the impact that they will have, in Iraq, in the region, in the US, and througout the world?
You would be hard-pressed to see much concern in the media or even here on Daily Kos, where there has been diatribe after diatribe on the Republican scandal du jour or circumcision wars or haircuts or electibility disputes or political infighting about candidate's polling numbers. WE NEED LEADERSHIP!
Why can't the current batch of primary contenders take a page out of Eisenhower's book and declare the Iraq war to be both unconstitutional and a strategic blunder? In the 1952 campaign, Eisenhower declared Truman's invasion of Korea to be unconstitutional, and he pledged both that he would end the war and that he would never deploy troops to combat or hostile areas without a congressional declaration of war. Eisenhower set forth his policy as follows: ``I deem it necessary to seek the cooperation of the Congress. Only with that cooperation can we give the reassurance needed to deter aggression" (Fisher, L.(2000). Unchecked presidential wars. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 148(5), 1637-73).
Aside from the toll in lives, is the war in Iraq not bankrupting the future of our country, in both moral and financial terms?
Leading the initiative on extricating our nation from the Iraq debacle would propel a candidate to lead the polls in Nov. 2008. Where can we find such a leader?