4,000 Commas
I had a plan for a post that would have a comma for each of our soldiers that have perished as a result of George Bush’s adventurism and need to overcome his fathers’ inadequacies.
So please click below to see the 4,000 comma’s that symbolize the soldiers sacrificed for this BS war.
Tags: Bush's FUBAR War
Geek
There really should be a lot more commas.
It has been well documented that the Pentagon has been systematically depressing the figures for the past two years; realistically, even omitting Americans killed as military contractors in State Department and private employ, we arguably passed the 4,000 mark at least 9-12 months ago.
Steve – Probably true. These numbers really are just the traditional military deaths. I think they represent less than half of our presence there.
I would put up a comma for each civilian death, but it would cost is an extra $10 a month for storage…
Yeah, I don’t think Mat has yet acquired the visceral anger against Republican policies that comes with age and with working in a Republican economy.
And he will need that anger to be able to point out Castle’s support of Bush policies.
Sure, Dems are picking up a registration edge, but most of those switchers have voted for Castle before and they will do it again.
Unless somebody can tie the economy, the war, and Bush around Castle’s neck. And tie it early enough that Castle is forced onto the defensive. Nobody has ever seen Castle defensive and if Mat can do it, it will be devastating to Castle’s image.
I
Above comment is on the wrong post, right?
Mat’s job is to publish KAREN’s postitions, not his own, anony.
Developing an anger platform worked not-so-great with Dennis “Spittle” Spivak, remember?
Developing a way forward with a message to Delawareans encompassing where Castle has brought us, exactly where he has failed and where better votes would have brought us is what will work.
Karen is great on the stump. She is in command of the issues and is fearless.
She needs to delineate the above and give DEMs hope for change in DC.
Back to the commas. Comma art is the best way to show the 4K + dead.
4K commas that form the shape of McCain hugging on Bush or something, mebbe.
Your wish, my command.
“These numbers really are just the traditional military deaths. I think they represent less than half of our presence there.”
Wrong again. CNN has a comprehensive list posted, with names, ages, units, and cause of death:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/index.html
They include traffic accidents and even a 50-something sergeant major who had a heart attack.
And by the way, I got a call from an old college buddy this weekend, who just got back from his tour in Fallujah. He said it’s pretty quiet there these days – okay, he’s a Navy SeaBee, so he wasn’t out patrolling and kicking in doors or anything, but he did a number of convoys, all of them uneventful. Really? Fallujah is quiet? Nah, that couldn’t be, because that would mean the surge is working, and General Pelosi says that’s just not so!
I don’t doubt that the surge is working in an operational military sense. Operational military success has never actually been the problem in Iraq, save for about six months in early 2004.
With all due respect to CNN and the name-by-name list, there are all sorts of ways that the military uses to depress the casualty figures; I used to work within that system, and I have spoken extensively with two officers who handled medical extractions from the Green Zone for a year.
How do you do it? One answer is not to assign as an in-theater KIA anybody who survives long enough to be evacuated from Iraq, whether they die later or not. That happens with great regularity; you might almost say it was policy.
Then there is the issue of American security force contractors hired directly by the State Department or paid indirectly through sub-contractors. Most of these folks work for MPRI, Blackwater, or a variety of smaller firms. The best independent reports suggest that at least another 2-3000 of them have been killed during the past five years. This includes American contractors working as trainer/cadre for the Iraqi security forces.
“One answer is not to assign as an in-theater KIA anybody who survives long enough to be evacuated from Iraq, whether they die later or not.”
Wrong again.
“Staff Sgt. Eugene H.E. Alex, Died on September 2, 2006, at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered when he encountered enemy forces using small-arms fire in Baghdad, Iraq, on August 30, 2006.”
I’m pretty sure CNN isn’t trying to depress casualty figures – they’re hardly cheerleaders for the war. I don’t know if the DoD is the source for this data, but the point is that it’s out there for public scrutiny, and they are including those evac’ed out of theatre.