US News & Comment

Tonight the Demorcatic candidates are busy spouting numbers about the Iraq war to illustrate why we need to quit the war.  Time was when citizens of the United States of America would simply not admit defeat–even when the there were setbacks and failures.  I have been studying World War II lately and I am amazed at the difference all around between the last world war and the current war on terror.

3,895 American soldiers have been killed in 4 years of Iraq.  In 4 years of war against Germany and Japan the Unites States lost 407,300 soldiers.  This is more than 100 times the number that have been killed and wounded in Iraq. 

Some soldiers have served 3 and 4 tours of duty in Iraq.  These men are serving as long as 18 months at a time.    Many of the veterans in World War II were drafted for “the duration.”  These men left their homes and families for an unspecified amount of time.  They were gone, sometimes for years, before they were able to come home.

Civilians were drafted into the service for World War II.  No one has been drafted for the Iraq conflict.  All soldiers in the military now have volunteered for service.  Most of them are proud to serve and want nothing more than to secure the saftey of our country.

The people at home in the U.S. in the 1940s had to ration commodities and industry was converted to war time production.  Many people sacrificed comfort and time to ensure the success of the war.  Today we are asked to sacrifice nothing as a people.  People may moan about the price of gas but there is disagreement about whether this has anything to do with the Iraq war.

After four grueling years the United States was victorious, with its allies, on both fronts.  There was never any talk that we might lose.  The people only knew that we must win or pay the consequences.

Today, we must win in Iraq or pay the consequences.  Each soldier who has given his life or been wounded in Iraq is important and I do not want to minimize what they have done.  But it will be worse for soldiers and civillians if we decide to quit before we are done.

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