I heard on the news today that there was another homocide bombing in Iraq. I was waiting for a body count of soldiers killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war. I absolutely hate hearing a body count. Having a nephew and someone I coached in baseball fighting over there, I don't want to hear someone keeping score.
I remember as a young boy watching the body counts in the Vietnam War on the CBS Evening News. This isn't a game. These are the finest young men and women doing their jobs as they have been taught to do. They deserve that respect.
As of 3/10/08, according to the website globalsecurity.org, since 2/03 there have been 3,967 deaths in Iraq. Compare that to these other statistics:
According to the New York Times there were 2,752 murders in NYC from 2003 through 2007. According to the Philadelphia Police Department there were 1,853 murders from 2003 through 2007. This is a total of 4,605 murders in two US cities. Do we keep a running total of this?
According to MADD.com, 1,700 students die each year from alcohol related unintentional injuries, including motor crashes. Over a five year period, that would be 8,500 alcohol related deaths. That is twice as many deaths as has happened in Iraq. Is this updated nightly on the national news broadcasts?
I can come up with other statistics that show the loss of life in Iraq is less than many other ways of dying.
While I was a child, a phrase commonly heard was "America, Love it or leave it." I think now it should be "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all."
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