The Toll of the War or: How to Win Friends and Influence People, by George W. Bush

Yet another article that will make you rush to the recruiter's office. Of course, this sort of thing doesn't get too much play on CNN or MSNBC. Fox News? Ha.

However, as this war drags on (which it undoubtedly will), I think we'll start to see more stuff like this. The reason? Well, as public approval for the war continues to dip below 50%, the media will seek out stories to tell that reinforce public notions that the campaign in Iraq (as well as in Afghanistan) has been a failure.

We will only see the number of Americans killed begin to rise more sharply if the US decides that it needs to go back and "pacify" (translation: completely obliterate) more cities like Fallujah. And of course, efforts like those only serve to scatter the insurgents across the country, not to wipe them out. Due to the improved technologies developed by the US military since Vietnam, we're just likely to see more "seriously wounded" people, as the article says. Seriously wounded means that these people are missing limbs. Sure, you'll survive - but you might not be able to feed yourself when you come home.

It seems like there's a new prisoner/detainee abuse story every day. It may seem naive or hopelessly simple minded to some people in such an exercise, but humor me and just ask yourself how you might respond if this country was being occupied. If you say, "well, that would never happen - we'd nuke 'em!", then please get the fuck out and go somewhere you're appreciated. Now - what was I saying?
Iraq has roughly one-tenth the population of the United States. Conservative estimates on the average number of Iraqi deaths (not casualties [injured + dead], but deaths) at roughly 300 per week since the war started. Again, that's an average. Some weeks are worse than others. If Iraq is one-tenth the population of the United States, then that means the equivalent in this country would be 3000 dead every week. How many people died in the WTC attacks? About 2900 or so. How would the citizens of our country respond if we were experiencing a 9/11 type attack every week?

Draw your own conclusions. Do you truly believe that each week, the overwhelming majority of those 300 dead Iraqis were members of Al Qaeda or the insurgency? I would say it's not too likely.

But hey - it's all justified, because Americans are far safer now that Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. Right? Don't you feel safer?

Can't wait until we invade the next country. We're winning new friends all over the planet.

Posts like this will likely get outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft to pass my name along to the incoming Alberto Gonzales. So if I disappear mysteriously, you'll know what happened.