This is another "Not a Candidate Diary."
I just thought that amid all the braying for our beloved candidates that we ought to remember why we, as Democrats, see this election as so important.
And so I thought it more appropriate than ever to note that while our brother and sister Democrats went to the polls in record numbers in Wisconsin and Hawai'i yesterday, three more U.S. soldiers died in Iraq.
The data comes from http://icasualties.org/...
The message, of course, is a cold one. The names of the soldiers have yet to be released, pending notification of kin. The announcement reads:
Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20080220-01
February 20, 2008
MND-B Soldiers attacked by IED
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO
BAGHDAD – Three Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers were killed at approximately 10:30 p.m. Feb. 19 when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in northwestern Baghdad.
The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
FOR QUERIES, CONTACT MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION - BAGHDAD PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT: MNDB_PAO_CIC@MND-B.ARMY.MILThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it OR BY PHONE AT: COMMERCIAL (914) 822-8174 OR IRAQNA 011-964-890-192-4674.
"Attacked by an IED." So coldly straightforward. And that passive voice is so deceptive. I spent some time as an editor. Let me try my hand at this:
"Killed by an IED, but in Iraq because of a misguided Bush Administration and their enablers."
Much better.
They were killed at 10:00pm Baghdad time, which means they were killed while polls were open in both Wisconsin and Hawai'i.
Of course, Iraqis suffered yesterday, too.
In Baghdad:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi officials said 15 policemen were killed and more than 45 wounded in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday as they tried to defuse rockets that had been prepared for launch from the back of a truck.
And in Mosul yet another woman was found executed
MOSUL - Police found the body of a woman with gunshot wounds to her head and chest dumped in a cemetery in eastern Mosul.
This marks the continuance of a long trend of greater oppression of women in Iraq. This reverses their pre-invasion status.
I think it's important to remember, amidst all the "I hate your candidate, mine is the greatest," and amidst candidate diary after candidate diary on the "Recommended" list, that Democrats--all of us--are headed to the polls for the same reasons, one major one of which is to put a stop to this godawful war.
I'm glad for whatever kudos you can give your candidate, and I'm totally stoked at the voter turnout this year. It is an amazing portent for November. But the primaries are not the end. We're not in this to win a primary. We're Democrats. We're in this to fix the mess brought on by the last seven+ years.
And while we vote, soldiers die. Let's not take our eye off the real goal: Getting those brave women and men the hell back here.