I know this theme has probably been hit on over and over again since the war began, but I think that opponents of the Iraq debacle need to start reassessing how we discuss casualties. Aside from the deplorable apathy amongst the American public about the 100,000 or so Iraqi civilians that have perished (which also has been hit on, but I'll save that for another diary), we completely ignore the sacrifice of the families of British, and other foreign soldiers to Bush's folly in Iraq.
What's more, we completely ignore the sacrifice of the Iraqi forces that have perished. Are they not our allies as well?
Democrats and other opponents of this war need to start using the appropriate numbers for body counts: 4,347 Allied soldiers have perished in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
That's 1,735 American soldiers, 89 British soldiers, 99 other foreign soldiers, and 2,424 Iraqi soldiers.
I know, I know. The Reeps will claim that this is dishonest accounting because it is not the number of Americans who have died.
My response: Let them try to denigrate the lives of other members of the coalition. I dare any Republican (or Democrat for that mattter) to say that the life of an Iraqi soldier fighting for his or her country is any less a tragic loss than the life of an American soldier.
This is a debate worth having, and using the number 4,347 repeatedly is a simple way to bring that debate to the forefront of the public consciousness. I venture that most Americans don't think much about foreign casualties in Iraq. It's telling that it wasn't a news story when Allied casualties reached 1,000, but it was when American casualties did so. This issue basically framed itself, and in the Republican mold. So we must reframe it, and do so now.
Let them try to say that 4,347 is not an appropriate metric of the Iraq carnage.
Let them try to say that their "culture of life" does not include the Iraqis who fight for the "freedom" that they claim Iraq has been given.
Let's talk about casualties. Please, lets. It's long overdue.