As Long as US Troops Are Not Dying Is America ‘OK’ with The Occupation of Iraq?
The Pentagon is asking for $3.5 billion (in the fiscal year 2009) in order to move forward with its Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The program is being promoted as a way to make soldiers safer and smarter on the battlefield but does little to address civilian casualties.
This $3.5 billion is important in the eyes of Army Chief of Staff General George Casey who is calling for earlier than scheduled testing of key technology in the FCS program. The two key devices being tested are the Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), which is an unmanned surveillance device, as well as the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle(SUGV). If testing goes as planned the devices could be ready for combat five years prior to their originally scheduled 2015 arrival.
I firmly believe that any American soldier’s life that could be saved by this technology should be saved by this technology. I want to be very clear that I have nothing against protecting American lives. It is important however to view the arrival of this technology in the context of the discussion we are having in this country about whether or not to remove American troops from the Middle East.
John McCain, when asked a week ago during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire how long the troops would be in the Middle East region, he stated, “make it 100…as long as Americans are not being wounded or killed…it would be fine with me, I hope it would be fine with you…”
The way the discussion about the War in Iraq has been framed in the MSM in this election year is either you are for the continuation of the war or you are against it, and generally the only reason you can be against the Iraqi War is because American soldiers are dying.
The severe price that Iraqi civilians pay is often ignored; very rarely does the MSM cite the fact that innocent Iraqi civilians are dying every day in the crossfire of this conflict.
The most often quoted statistic of the war is the American soldier’s death toll, which as of today is 3921.
The most recent guess at the Iraqi death toll released today by the World Health Organization is between 104,000 and 223,000. So while the American troop death toll has every dead US soldier accounted for, as they should be. The civilian death toll has a range of 119,000 human lives. And this estimate by the World Health Organization is conservative when compared to Johns Hopkins University study which estimated the Iraqi civilian death toll at 600,000 in mid-2006.
Many civilians died in the initial bombing by coalition forces back in 2003, but a substantial number of civilians continue to die by the hand of American soldiers. According to IraqiBodyCount.com, in a five month span 600 Iraqi civilians were killed by US forces, with 15 women and children being killed in a single air raid in October of last year. Most often US forces do not intentionally kill civilians but it inevitably happens when a military force occupies urban terrain where civilians are residing. Read this government document of a fisherman’s death for a perfect example of how easily life is taken in this environment: http://www.aclu.org/natsec/foia/pdf/Army0550_0554.pdf
Even rarer than the mention of the Iraqi civilian death toll is the mention of the Iraqi civilian refugee population which has now reached an estimated 2,000,000 in Syria and 800,000 in Jordan.
And then the Pentagon and Administration still have the nerve to quote the reason for the reduction of violence being the US troop surge. Even a casual observer when shown these numbers would conclude that the reduction of violence is directly linked to the reduction of 3,000,000 people in the region.
So as the technology coming out of the Pentagon improves and begins to save more and more US soldier’s lives let us not forget the full scope of the tragedy of warfare and military occupation when discussing decisions to be made in regards to American foreign policy.
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Comment by Eric on 12 January 2008:
Thank you for bringing this to light. The MSM wants us to ignore these facts and conclude that our war is justified against a people who never directly attacked us. I believe this will be recorded in history as the acts of a tyrant nation, which the US is quickly becoming.
Comment by jim carter on 13 January 2008:
As long as there are no American soldiers getting killed is one of the most arrogant statements I have ever heard from a person who wants to be President oth United States of America.
McCain also said earlier in 2007 that the streets of Baghdad were safe to walk in and when he said this he had military personell all around him,come on. Republicans,Democrats and Independents wake up there is only one candidate who wants to end this nightmare and he is Ron Paul.
All other candidates except Dennis Kucinich, Paul and Mike Gravel have affilliations towards those who want more and more wars.
Comment by Dave on 13 January 2008:
Give them their country back. There were no WMDs. Saddam is dead. Bin-Laden is either dead or not in Iraq. We have no business being there anymore. All this occupation is doing is robbing American taxpayer’s dollars to fund operations over there that we’ll never see a return on. Meanwhile our troops our left vulnerable while the private corporations cash in. Modern day pirates. That’s what’s going on. And the American people have their hands over their ears going “La, la, la, la, la…” WAKE UP PEOPLE!!
Comment by Tess on 13 January 2008:
As an Honorably discharged United States Air Force member, it saddens me to hear McCain’s comments about keeping our troops in Iraq if takes 100 years. It makes all of America look like war frenzy human beings. I pray to God the rest of the world does not think he is our example, or represents the majority of Americans, especially since 70% of Americans want our troops home now.
I surely hope the voting Republicans will not support McCain’s views or vote for him. Our country is broke, our government has already allowed Al Queda to beat us financially and bankrupt our country by funding this war. I bet these terrorists are sitting in there caves laughing at us, along with the rest of the world. I say bring our troops home safe and alive now. American citizens can no longer pay for a war that Bush said “Mission Accomplished” back on May 1st, 2003. I hope our government will start to listen to the Comptroller of the Government Accounting Office, David Walker, as well as the people of the United States. Is our government going to completely wipe us out financially, sell us off to China and the Arabs, and then leave all our military personnel in Iraq, and in oversea locations because they can’t afford to bring them home? Think about that question before you cast your vote for any of the war happy candidates running for president, with the exception of Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich or Gravel.
Maybe I shouldn’t worry, but the fact of the matter is I do care about my country and it’s citizens. Please America get involved, don’t just sit there and let this happen to us. Do the research, and be informed before you vote. Google GAO and David Walker, see what kind of debt we are really in straight from our government. When there is no more welfare checks and food stamps, I am sure we will all find out how many criminals there really are in our country when the looting starts.
Comment by liberty on 19 January 2008:
1. I have read that there are 1 million
Iraqi civilians dead since Marc 2003.
2. Every munition from a plane, every tank
shell is tipped with depleted uranium. Every
time one of these explodes uranium dust
is thrown up in the air and blown by
the winds throughout the mideast. DU is the
atomic waste from atomic power plants. DU
is harder than steel thus it is put in
munitions. Everyone in the mideast including
the 140,000 US troops and 100,000 war
contractors and 20 million Iraqis are
breathing that dust in. Its deadly
poisonous and will cause cancer and
birth defects. No one who is breathing
that air is safe even those not involved
in the war. No one.
3. I believe there are 100s of open
questions about 911. If you just read
the evidence: why the massive WTC 7
building which was not hit by a plane
fell at the speed of gravity ie.
controlled demolition, CD. ANd if WTC 7 was a
a CD, then look at WTC 1 and 2; they have
to be CDs also. ANd if that is the case
there are many more people involved.
There were at least 4 and as many as
10 war exercises going on the day of 911 with
some of these exercises EVEN
simulating the hitting of
buildings by hijacked planes. The
extra fake hijack planes on the radar screen
confused NORAD and the FAA. The intercepting
jets were also confused by the war
exercises. How could 911 happen on the
same day all these war exercises happened ?
And how could a trillion dollar military
not intercept those hijacked jets. Our
intercepting jets were always able to
intercept planes off course in the past.
This was easily done. But why not on 911.
Was it a standdown. This is one of the
most blatant signatures of foul play
according to Colonel Bob Bowman who
flew 100 pilot missions in Vietnam.
These are just two anomalies among 100s.
Other anomalies are just as blatant.
So, the conclusion is not only are we
fighting an unjustified war in Iraq
because IRaq had nothing to do with
911 nor did they have any WMDs but
the very foundation of the “official
911″ story is suspect as the 19
hijackers (of which are 5 are still alive
and some of the others were trained at
US military bases) is suspect and the
evidence shows there was help
to execute 911 in the upper
eschelons of the military and
government. Don’t believe me,
do your own research. I have done
mine.