Posted on 04/04/2006 3:27:12 PM PDT by jmc1969
There is no comparison between the casualties of WWII and Iraq, a fact Mr. Buckley well knows.
Did the Revolutionary War lasted to long for you?
"The American casualties for March [in Iraq] was 31."
This amounts to one per day. My son who currently is serving in Afghanistan says we (American military) are now loosing about 3 or 4 a week in Afghanistan. He doesn't think this is being reported in the US, and as a mother who pays attention to these things, I haven't noticed it being reported either.
Some of you may have read the thread I posted titled "Front Line Views on Iraq/Afghanistan War Situation" on 3/12/06. I now have enough useful communications to post a Front Line Views #2, which I plan to do this Thursday night or Friday day.
Yeah, you're smarter than Buckley.
With all due respect to you, WFB's poop has more credibility, whether you like it or not.
Of course this is just my opinion, I'm sure you'll not like it from me either.
Mr. Buckley is talking foolishness. Plain and simple. We are in a war, a world war....people are going to die. That doesn't show success or lack of success because of such.
Furthermore in this world war with terrorism our one true ally will be the values of freedom and self-worth. To suggest either of those are not in the interest of the United States is completely wrong.
one can't drive from Baghdad to the airport without an armed guard.
Bullsh*t! - millions of of Iraqi's move around freely throughout Iraq each day sans ANY armed guards next to them. That some Iraqi's are being killed for a variety of reasons outside of this war itself, does not reflect whatsoever on the amazing success of which our forces have helped to create within Iraq since 2003.
Nor do those Iraqi's that are being killed because of this war/ and our efforts amount to any sensible criteria that we are losing. These Iraqi's are dying to build a new Iraq...a war very much worth fighting for.
That Americans don't move/travel throughout sections of Iraq without being armed simply reinforces the reality that we are at war with an enemy that wants to kill us. Nothing more...nothing less.
Plenty like Mr. Buckley from thousands of miles away want to try and tell others of what is happening on the ground within Iraq...when they simply have no clue to what is actually going on, especially so in the bigger picture...which is usually very hard to see from a far (a fact that a man of Mr. Buckley's intellect should be well aware of).
Regards,
Before Iraq, he was the "Great William F. Buckley," a sort of demigod around here.
Now, because he dares disagree with the party line about Iraq, he's ostracized as an "idiot"? Heck no. He was an intellectual conservative when they simply didn't exist. He deserves more respect than he's been shown on this board. You may not agree with him, but he's not "lost his marbles." At least have the intellectual honesty to admit that reasonable minds can differ about whether Iraq is working or not.
"I think I can survive one disagreement with such a figure every few decades."
Exactly. The dumb klucks on this thread are too much to bear. They simply don't understand much. They're the kind of folks who think political activism consists of spamming your friends with pics of bald eagles, American flags, and silhouettes of President Bush praying.
I wasn't comparing the casualties of WWII with the casualties in Iraq. I was comparing a one month battle of WWII that took 7,000 US military lives, with the 31 killed in Iraq during the month of March 2006. The former is a gruesome event, the latter is not.
I'm wish you on Iraq, just not on Buckley.
Uh, I mean "with you on Iraq."
The number of military deaths during peacetime (1980-1999) was 32,349. Of these, 563 were classified as hostile. So that's 32,349 non-hostile deaths over twenty years. It's an average of 1617 per year.
The total number of US Military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom (March 19, 2003 to present) is 2247 (over a three year period) That averages to 749 per year. Less than half the peacetime rate. Also, of those 2247, only 1758 are classified as hostile.
Dude, Buckley isn't even paying enough situation to know about our great operation in Tal Afar, operation Swarmer, and several dozen smaller operations that you can read about if you go to Bill Roggio's site. According to him there hasn't been operations in months (that he has heard of) so we must be getting more casulties because we are sitting back in our bases and not on the offensive.
And, he doesn't even know that most of the Iraqis deaths aren't insurgents killing Iraqis. Most are from crime and militias.
So, yes when it comes to Iraq I know one hell of alot more the Buckley. I would make a bet that he couldn't name three Iraqi political leaders.
With all due respect, your son is wrong. We are not losing 3 or 4 U.S. soldiers a week in Stan - This is simply not the case (nor, if we were, would that reflect anything in particular...in that if this WOT is worth it to fight, we have to fight it).
Bah, I meant to say less casulties.
Buckley joined the army in 1944 and was commissioned a 2nd Lt.
Less that 2000 KIA's.......1839 to be exact!!
Then the conservative intellectual movement is dead, and its now a reactionary movement.
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