Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

War-weary US is numbed to drumbeat of troop deaths
AP Via WRALNews.com ^ | September 8, 2012 | Robert Burns

Posted on 09/08/2012 11:28:46 AM PDT by NCDragon

WASHINGTON — It was another week at war in Afghanistan, another string of American casualties, and another collective shrug by a nation weary of a faraway conflict whose hallmark is its grinding inconclusiveness.

After nearly 11 years, many by now have grown numb to the sting of losing soldiers like Pfc. Shane W. Cantu of Corunna, Mich. He died of shrapnel wounds in the remoteness of eastern Afghanistan, not far from the getaway route that Osama bin Laden took when U.S. forces invaded after Sept. 11, 2001, and began America's longest war.

Cantu was 10 back then.

Nearly every day the Pentagon posts another formulaic death notice, each one brief and unadorned, revealing the barest of facts - name, age and military unit - but no words that might capture the meaning of the loss.

Cantu, who joined the Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade on Sept. 11 last year and went to Afghanistan last month, was among five U.S. deaths announced this past week, as the Democrats and Republicans wrapped up back-to-back presidential nominating conventions.

(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; bho44; bhodod; bhogwot; fallen; wot
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last
To: elpadre

U.S. And its allies (chiefly U.K.) Aren’t ruthless enough to eliminate the Taliban so we should be withdrawing troops right now.


21 posted on 09/08/2012 12:15:20 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: NCDragon

Compared to Chicago, Philadelphia, DC, Detroit........ a young black man is safer in the army in Afghanistan.

Democrats promote murder at the local level


22 posted on 09/08/2012 12:23:34 PM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... Present failure and impending death yield irrational action))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NCDragon

Casualties have risen since Obama took office, since the new rules of engagement do not allow our troops to defend themselves, but the media has completely ignored the body counts they used to publicize so assiduously.

And the war has completely lost its point.

Note that this excuse of an article is extremely vague about all this, and of course no mention that Obama is at fault, along with his Communist defense secretary.


23 posted on 09/08/2012 12:24:47 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TigersEye

“Strangely the drumbeat stopped cold on January 20th 2009.”

The other major factor is the nation relying on a “professional” army instead of a citizen army. Vietnam was unpopular due to the draft which put people in harms way who did not want to go to battle for what they did not perceive as a threat against the homeland. If young people were being drafted into the service and killed everyday there would be a very strong and active anti-war/anti-military movement made up of young people and their parents.


24 posted on 09/08/2012 12:25:12 PM PDT by Soul of the South
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: NCDragon

If we had a Republican Prezzy in the white House, the media would be slamming him non-stop about the casualties, the lack of a mission and the bogus rules-of-engagement.

25 posted on 09/08/2012 12:27:24 PM PDT by Old Sarge (We are now officially over the precipice, we just havent struck the ground yet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NCDragon
Taps for Shane W. Cantu!

Taps for the approximately 6,500 dead and 46,000 wounded who are causalities of the war we were told the government would handle as we continued to go to the mall.

Criminal!

Approximately 119,500 KIA and 328,600 wounded in the undeclared wars since WWII.

My heart aches for them all; each and every one.

And we the people are still just going to the mall!

"America, where are you now?"

26 posted on 09/08/2012 12:32:35 PM PDT by ImpBill ("America, where are you now?" - Little "r" republican!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tallguy

Why are we maintaining small bases on the border with Pakistan when we could eliminate the Taliban one by one with the use of Drones?


27 posted on 09/08/2012 12:35:08 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

Those small bases are acting as bait, IMO. You make them large enough that it would take a battalion-strength assault to take them out quickly. Then you swoop-in with the Apache’s and the A-10’s and kill the Taliban wholesale. Drone strikes are terribly inefficient on a cost-per-kill basis. Fine for high-value targets, assuming you can confirm the kill (which is problematic).

If you make the bases larger, and better able to defend themselves, then they are too big for the enemy to take-on. They disperse and go through the cracks because you also can’t cover the front because you’re bunched-up.

Right now both sides are getting what they want. The Taliban is attempting to pick-off these bases. The Army is killing Taliban in large numbers. We’ll see who switches their strategy first (that’s how you know who lost).


28 posted on 09/08/2012 12:53:30 PM PDT by Tallguy (It's all 'Fun and Games' until somebody loses an eye!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: NCDragon

Yes but like so many banana republics it transfers the populaces’ attention from how bad the economy and everything else is due to this, magic negro.


29 posted on 09/08/2012 1:00:18 PM PDT by Joe Boucher ((FUBO) Hey Mitt, F-you too pal)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Soul of the South

Whatever the deficits may be we don’t need to bring back the draft.


30 posted on 09/08/2012 1:10:06 PM PDT by TigersEye (dishonorabledisclosure.com - OPSEC (give them support))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: NCDragon

Gee, you’d think the US would be numbed to the drumbeat of the mini-Vietnam happening every year in our inner cities. There are far more murders there every year than troop deaths in the entire 11 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. But nooooo, the media know who is to blame (democraps) for that one and don’t want to talk about it — except to blame inanimate objects.


31 posted on 09/08/2012 1:41:36 PM PDT by LibWhacker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tallguy
From my experience in Viet Nam as enlisted scum, I have come to believe that the Roman Solution works best. Be semi-nice the first time you fight them and then very nasty the second.

These people look at “be nice” as weakness but after the second solution you earn respect if not love.

32 posted on 09/08/2012 2:03:37 PM PDT by Little Bill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: NCDragon
By the time Bush left office the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan had already lasted longer than the U.S. involvement in both World Wars (combined). The GOP losses in 2006 and 2008 can be directly attributed to this, and Mitt Romney can't even mention Afghanistan in his campaign because he knows damn well that there will still be a large U.S. military presence in Afghanistan in 2016 if he is elected.

F#%& all of these people ... and I don't say that kind of thing very often.

33 posted on 09/08/2012 2:48:23 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Little Bill

IMO, the only things they respect and fear is overpowering strength.


34 posted on 09/08/2012 3:33:30 PM PDT by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Tallguy
and kill the Taliban wholesale

You can't kill the Taliban wholesale unless you genocide the population - our best bet is to pull our at risk troops and use aerial strikes to target "Taliban/enemy" strong hold camps.

Also, this was Obama's campaign - the ignorant George Bush was ignoring a focus on the real war that was in progress - Afghanistan. Note that nobody is calling him on this how Obama has abysmally failed here. Obama is caught by his hatred of the US, his loathing of US military, and his love for Muslim theocracies.
35 posted on 09/09/2012 2:14:56 PM PDT by RushingWater (Let's have a brokered convention and page Sarah Palin - especially if Condi is the VP nominee)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Alberta's Child

What’s the difference between an “enemy fighter” and an “innocent civilian”?-—He dropped his weapon.

The US government wants victory in Afghanistan, like your credit card company wants you to pay off your card balance.


36 posted on 09/10/2012 5:28:09 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: RushingWater
You can't kill the Taliban wholesale unless you genocide the population.

You can if you are talking about military formations. The trip-wire forces (Observation Posts) require the enemy to mass if they hope to overrun them. Killing masses of troops is "wholesale." It means getting your Arty & Airpower involved. Sniping at a tent with Helfire missiles is "surgical" and wasteful of resources.

Nobody is talking about extermination of populations here.

37 posted on 09/10/2012 6:11:12 PM PDT by Tallguy (It's all 'Fun and Games' until somebody loses an eye!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson