This week we witnessed the 1,000th American military death in Iraq, not to mention the 7,000 + wounded and 12,000+ Iraqi civilians killed. That’s a large number to put your head around.
Fortunately, we have the administration to put it in context. Here’s Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld:
It should be noted that the civilized world passed the thousandth casualty mark a long time ago. Hundreds were killed in Russia last week to be sure. And this week, of course, on September 11th, 2004, we remember the 3,000 citizens of dozens of countries who were killed on September 11th in 2001. And September 11th, 2001 was not the beginning of terrorism, and the war in Iraq has not created terrorism. International terrorists declared war on the civilized nations of the world some time back, and over the decades, they have killed many thousands of Americans and citizens of other countries as well.
And as we commemorate the third anniversary of the attacks of September 11th, it’s appropriate to honor the fallen and to reflect on how far we have come and to determine what more might be done.
Ahh, yes–September 11. You remember that, don’t you? Of course the administration has never said Iraq was responsible for 9/11, they just keep happen to keep talking about the two at the same time; it’s a freakish coincidence, really. And when you think about all the people who died on 9/11, the hundreds of Americans who have died in the 16 months since President Bush declared major combat over in Iraq really isn’t that big of a deal.
See, that’s the problem with today’s liberal media–they don’t put such things in a proper perspective. You have to focus on the big picture. It’s hard to see the progress of the Iraqi soccer team when you’re bean-counting returning coffins. Thankfully, we still have voices to keep us focused away from this “ghoulish” media celebration of American casualties.