Putting Our Losses In Iraq Into Perspective

Sadly, we’ve finally passed a 1000 deaths in Iraq. That’s certainly tragic, especially for the families and friends of the soldiers who were killed. There is no such thing as “light casualties” to someone who loses a father, a brother, or child in a battle in a foreign land.

That being said, if we send our military into combat, we must accept that there may be losses. Unfortunately, that just goes with the territory. And when we look at past conflicts, wars, even certain battles, the number of men we’ve lost in Iraq is small indeed. Here are a few statistics just to show you what I mean…

1002: Soldiers killed in Iraq
1500: The top end of my own pre-war estimate of how many troops we could lose just invading Iraq
2403: Americans killed at Pearl Harbor
2976: Americans lost on 9/11
9,386: American soldiers killed taking Normandy
12,500: American soldiers killed taking Okinawa in WW2
24,000: American soldiers on both sides killed at the battle of Antietam during the Civil War
54,246: American troops killed in Korea
58,198: American soldiers killed in Vietnam
116,516: American soldiers killed in World War 1
133,811: Confederate troops killed in the Civil War
295,000: American soldiers killed in World War 2
364,511: Union Soldiers killed during the Civil War

Losing American soldiers is never easy for us to take back at home, nor should it be. But, every terrorist our soldiers kill in Iraq is one less terrorist who might turn up in our country in a school, behind the controls of an airplane, or strapped with dynamite. Our soldiers are risking their lives so civilians here in the states don’t have to do so.

Moreover, our troops are not just helping 25 million Iraqis form a Democracy, but are setting a precedent that will help Democracy spread across the region. Not only will Democracy help drain the poisonous bile of radical Islam & the terrorism that goes with it from the region, it’s the right thing for us to do.

Americans have been at the forefront of the fight for freedom so many times in WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, and during the Cold War, and we’re there again today. Maybe some people look back and regret that, but I don’t, and I don’t believe most Americans do either. George Bush and our soldiers are doing the right thing, for the right reasons, and while it may not be easy, nothing worthwhile ever is.

*** Note ***: I’ve found that getting an official number of soldiers lost in each war is more difficult that you’d think. Different sources sometimes list radically different numbers. If anyone knows of an “official” or even highly reliable source that breaks down soldiers KIA, soldiers lost in theater, wounded, etc, please post it in the comments section.

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