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The True Cost of Iraq War; Newsweeks Anti-War Rant
Newseek/MSNBC ^ | January 28, 2007 | Weston Kosova

Posted on 01/28/2007 12:32:12 PM PST by DakotaRed

From the Feb. 5, 2007 issue, in the middle of the article:

More than 3,000 U.S. service members have now died in the Iraq war. At first it was difficult not to feel overwhelmed by the number of deaths. After four years, it is now difficult not to feel numb. In a nation without a draft, the emotional connection between the front and the home front is the weakest it has been in a major conflict in recent memory. There are so many news accounts of troops killed in combat that the details blur. The death of one soldier, or 20, loses its power to shock, except to the families of the fallen.

At some point, the way we talk about the war itself changes. We speak less and less about husbandless wives and parentless children, and instead obscure the suffering in vaguer, more distant and—guiltily—easier terms. We shake our heads and talk about the "losses."

In Washington, the talk is now all about Iraq. Democrats, emboldened by their control of Congress and the president's sinking poll numbers, no longer fear being labeled "Defeatocrats" if they take a stand against George Bush on the war. And some Republicans, including Sens. Chuck Hagel and John Warner, are speaking out against the handling of the war and about the cost in human life. Nonetheless, the president, trying to appear conciliatory and resolute at the same time, is determined to send an additional 21,000 troops to Iraq, no matter what anyone else thinks. If Congress rejects the idea, Dick Cheney told CNN last week, "it won't stop us."

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: antiwar; iraq; leftistdrivel; waronterror
The article mentions others who went into combat feeling forelorn, like they wouldn't make it and didn't. Does it ever occur to these leftist twits that their own constant negative reporting contributes to the feelings our troops have?

Going into combat is bad enough. Going in feeling downhearted and being told everyday you are "cannon fodder" makes the chance of our troops surviving that much less.

1 posted on 01/28/2007 12:32:14 PM PST by DakotaRed
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To: DakotaRed
At first it was difficult not to feel overwhelmed by the number of deaths.

What a lying bastard this writer is. He doesn't feel overwhelmed - he's gleeful. He wishes it was much more, but he'll make do with the three thousand. Anything to try to demoralize the fickle US public and drive it into opposition to a war for its own survival. Three thousand soldiers lost? They died for us. This POS wants to throw their sacrifice away. How about another couple thousand US civilians lost? How about a couple of million? That's where the defeatists will take us.

2 posted on 01/28/2007 12:37:14 PM PST by Argus
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To: DakotaRed

I hate to disappoint Newsweek, but the institution impacted the most (the military) is more supportive of the war than the general public.


3 posted on 01/28/2007 12:37:25 PM PST by glennshepard (Semper Fi, Beat Army)
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To: DakotaRed

OK. Here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1775115/posts

the LA Times said the death toll from 9/11 *and* the Iraq war wasn't so bad. Now Newsweek says it is.

I'm soooo confused.

Or maybe the libs just write whatever comes into their little thimble brains?


4 posted on 01/28/2007 12:46:17 PM PST by Felis_irritable (Dirty_Felis_Irritable...)
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To: Argus

These leftists never fail, do they? If this idiot had the slightest degree of historical acumen, he'd know that the casualties suffered in Iraq have been far, far fewer in number than those suffered by the US military in other altercations.

If he's going to sit there and talk about numbers, he'd better have an idea what those numbers mean. It just shows a genuine lack of knowlege and concern for the sacrifices made by those who came before us. Our militaries have suffered more losses in a single day than we've suffered in Iraq.

He doesn't care about numbers. Numbers are just a means to an end for this maggot.

No, numbers don't do justice to the loss of a human life. Which is exactly why we should be a lot more grateful than what we are for those fighting on our behalf at the moment and those who fought to bring us to where we are now.


5 posted on 01/28/2007 12:49:36 PM PST by CheyennePress
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To: Felis_irritable

Wonder what the World Trade Center cost to rebuild?


6 posted on 01/28/2007 12:52:33 PM PST by neverhillorat (IF THE RATS WIN, WE ALL LOSE)
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To: DakotaRed
After four years, it is now difficult not to feel numb.

Like, this sissy ever cared a whit for any service member. Yeah, right.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

7 posted on 01/28/2007 12:55:35 PM PST by Criminal Number 18F (Kitchener faced a 'Mahdi Army' too... how'd that work out?)
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To: DakotaRed
"Overwhelmed" by the number of deaths? When in the American Revolution would Newsweek have been overwhelmed and said we should quit and stay under the King of England?

How about the Civil War? WW I? WW II? Or, traffic accidents? Or, shootings in the streets of Detroit? Whoever wrote and edited that sentence in this "report" is either a moron, or a vicious liar. I do with liar, given the history of dishonest polls from Newsweek in every election.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article: "Announcement: I'm Not Running for President"

8 posted on 01/28/2007 1:35:55 PM PST by Congressman Billybob (Please get involved: www.ArmorforCongress.com)
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To: Congressman Billybob
When in the American Revolution would Newsweek have been overwhelmed and said we should quit and stay under the King of England?

Somewhere between the Boston Massacre and Lexington, I figure.

After all, the Intolerable Acts were all put in place "for the children."

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

9 posted on 01/28/2007 1:57:38 PM PST by Criminal Number 18F (Kitchener faced a 'Mahdi Army' too... how'd that work out?)
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To: DakotaRed

Good God. This writer, his magazine, the rest of the liberal media and the liberals in this country need desperately to grow a pair.

"Hard not to feel numb" to the military deaths in Iraq???? WTF? Why is feeling numb or not feeling numb an issue? We have a job to do over there, and it did not end with the termination of formal hostilities when the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

The job will continue after Iraq has a fully functioning, stable and sovereign government, when and if that comes to pass. We are, and have been fighting this war with a military presence in over 100 countries around the world for years now. A lot of this goes on behind the scenes and under the radar, and Americans have lost their lives.

Many more Americans are going to lose their lives in this struggle, and they are not going to all be military personnel. We, as a nation, better get used to the idea, and if we cannot, we should just close up shop and submissively submit to the will of Islamofacists.

I am firmly convinced that the biggest danger to the well being of this republic is NOT from Islamofacism, but from the rot within this country expressed by the sentiments of the Liberal Left including the biased media. THAT is one part of the war that will have to be won. The liberals are, and have been fighting us with all the weapons at their disposal for many years now.

We should fight back with any weapons and tools at our disposal. I am not speaking of armed combat, I am speaking of intellectual combat.

A war of ideas, which conservatism has been all to willing to cede to liberalism in an effort not to rock the boat. That attitude should have been over a long time ago.


10 posted on 01/28/2007 2:25:48 PM PST by rlmorel (Islamofacism: It is all fun and games until someone puts an eye out. Or chops off a head.)
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To: Congressman Billybob

I believe that around 11,000 US Servicemen was killed in five years in the 1980's by accidents. I don't recall a single story from the media about those deaths.


11 posted on 01/28/2007 4:08:33 PM PST by Swiss
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To: Congressman Billybob

Don't know if you've seen the headlines in Newsweek, but directly below this one in this article we have:

Will Pro-War Stance Hurt 2008 GOP Hopefuls?
Newsweek Poll: Bush Hits New Low
The ‘Swift-Boating’ of 2008 Has Begun (about the Obama madrassa)
Will Karl Rove Testify in Libby Trial?

No bias here, right?


12 posted on 01/28/2007 4:33:59 PM PST by CheyennePress
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