How many soldiers died in the Clinton era? I think it was over 14,000 but he didn’t have a war. What was Clinton’s reason for all those deaths?

I’d like to think that there must be a reason for the 4,000 deaths in Iraq since 2003, but I really don’t know if there is one besides a misguided idea that democracy is a possibility in that barbaric region.

12:52, oh woe is the white man’s burden, that we must continue to civilize the savages.

Wow the BH is terrible at headlining articles. “4000 dead but Bush apathetic”? How is this article saying that…at all?

Gotta love the ISO. I hear Cuba is a nice place this time of year.

We’re still at war? I saw the “Mission Accomplished” banner a few years back, turned off my tv, and went about my business.

I have been keeping up with Britney Spears, however. It seems that she’s been spotted with cam-toe on several occasions.

We’ve had armed forces in Germany and Japan for over 60 years with no indication of any exit.

Do you think we will ever leave Korea?

Not that every death is not a tragedy, but more that 4,000 soldiers have died daily in other battles during other wars.

There were not 14,000 deaths during the Clinton years and the rates are much higher in Bush’s term. Try reading something other than whacko right wing blogs. Dept of Defense reports show that true comparable numbers show that during Clinton’s years, there were fewer than 5 combat deaths per year as opposed to 738 combat deaths per year under Bush.

the fatalities from all causes were a high of 1293 in 1992 (H.W. Bush’s last year) to a low of 768 in 2000. (Generally, fatalities declined almost every year during the Clinton years due to fewer fatal accidents and illnesses.)

Stop the NeoCon madness, vote Democrat in November.

once again, the ISO proves full of mis-truths and ill-fitting “logic”

Thank you, 11:03am, for your astute and informative commentary.

Nineveh in late March 2008 http://67.192.120.151/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=519:stake-through-their-hearts-killing-al-qaeda&catid=34:dispatches&Itemid=55

There are no guarantees, but this could be the endgame for major combat operations in Iraq. Combat is likely to heat up in Mosul and western Nineveh by about May. There likely will be some reports of increased US and Iraqi casualties up here, but this does not mean that we are losing ground or that al Qaeda is resurging – though clearly they are trying. If there is an increase in casualties here as we go into the summer of 2008, it is because our people and the Iraqi forces are closing in. We have seen just how deadly al Qaeda can be. This enemy is desperate. They know they are losing. They are not likely to go out easy. The enemy is smart, agile and adaptive. Likely they will land some devastating blows on us, but at this rate, our people and Iraqi forces appear to be driving stakes through al Qaeda hearts faster than al Qaeda is regenerating.

The Badger Herald editors are uniquely inept at providing titles for columns. Bush isn’t apathetic about the war; he’s enthusiastically bloodthirsty.

“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

Mr. Pryse and like minded folks have slept safe and talked ‘smart’ about US foreign policy in the middle east since September 11, 2001. On that single day 2819 people were killed in attacks on the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and on the aircraft used in the attacks. On that day, 3051 children had parents killed. On that day citizens from 115 countries were murdered. On that day, America understood the necessity for unswerving confrontation of those who would do us harm. It is a lesson Mr. Pryse and his myopic sycophants have forgotten or failed to learn at all.

Nor was this the first attack pursued by extreme islamists against the US and western civilization. The attacks on our embassies in 1998, the previous attack on the World Trade center in 1993, the attack on the Achille Lauro in 1985… the list too long and murderous to even summarise here. As a Nation,we are slow to learn and slow to anger, but learn and act we must. Added together with 9-11, they provided more than ample justification for direct action.

We identified the Taliban, their brutal 13th century Islamic government, and their terrorist training camps in Afghaistan as our 1st priority. The Taliban openly challenged us to ‘come fight’… and we honored their offer. With an all-volunteer military, we pursued them with unyielding vigor. Those ‘brave islamists’ who survived ran for the Pakistani hills.

Through long prior experience, we identified Saddam Hussein and Iraq as a continual source of mayhem, murder, and instability in the middle east. The rape of Kuwait by Saddam and his Revolutionary Guard. The continual violations of US and United Nations cease fire terms there after. The repeated use of mustard gas, chlorine gas, and nerve gas by Saddam against his neighbor Iran and Kurds in his own country. The documented hedonistic brutalities visited on the Iraqis by Saddam and his sons Uday and Cousay. It became our next priority. With an all-volunteer military and an alliance of willing countries, we pursued them with unyielding vigor. Those ‘brave islamists’ who survived ran for the hills… or were caught in ‘spider holes’. Saddam got a new rope for his execution and that is far better than he deserved.

The Islamic Revolutionary Council in Iran continues to foment terrorism throught the middle east and the world, as they have since the overthrow of the Shah. They have developed nuclear technologies, ostensibly for ‘energy generation’ in their oil-rich country (LOL), that are readily applicable to nuclear weapons. They have demonstrated ballistic missile technology. Their mullahs and president (Im-A-Doin-Jihad)alike have stated that when they achieve nuclear missile capability, they will immediately use it against Israel and ‘their enemies in the west’.

Those are the historical reasons we have chosen to confront Islamic terrorism, destabilizing dictatorships, and 13th century Islamic govenments pursuing nuclear weapons in the middle east. None of these folks believe in “Embracing Diversity”, “Tolerance”, or pluralistic forms of self government. They are taught by their religion that only adherents to Islam have the right to live and then only by the precepts of Koran and Shariya ‘law’. This their lunatic resolve. They will use and glad-hand fools like Mr. Pryse as long as it suits their purposes and dispose of them as Infidels when their usefullness is gone.

President Bush is most assuredly not apathetic about the loss of life in Iraq, either by our voluteer military folks or the by Iraqi civilians. Nor is Mr. McCain a lunatic for recognizing the greatest threat to world stability that this generation and generations to come must face. The extremists within Islam will not yield gently to each other, let alone infidels from the west. They are determined to sustain the brutality that is strict adherence to ‘Islamic Law’, as interpreted of course by the ruling class of mullahs. ‘Comply to Islam or Die to Islam’ are the only choices they offer.

We choose not to comply. We choose to confront them directly and indirectly until their extreme religious brutalities are commited to the burgeoning ash heaps of failed human experiences.

Our all-volunteer military and our leadership understand the profound threat that Islamist terrorists, Revolutionary Islamist Council governments, and aggressive middle east dictatorships represent to the free world. They must be confronted with unyielding resolve.

Our citizens continue to volunteer in numbers exceeding our military’s recruitment needs and the active duty soldiers returning from Afghaistan and Iraq re-enlist at historically high levels. They do so because they see not only the threat of extreme Islam but also the gratitude and changing perspectives of those Afghanis and Iraqis they defend. They must be supported with unyielding resolve.

In the mean time, sleep tight Mr. Pryse and foolish followers! Rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do you… and all of us harm.

Invictus Maneo

We had more than 90% of the world behind us and more than 90% of the US behind President Bush when he invaded Afghanistan. Mission: Hunt down Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice, dismantle the Taliban, smash Al Queda and, when finished we would overthrow Musharaff.

Instead, he totally f*ed it up by moving into Iraq, we still haven’t found Bin Laden, the Taliban has re-grouped, Al Queda followed us into Iraq, and Musharaff is Bush’s buddy.

Sleep lightly, friends, a nincompoop has sent our brave warriors the wrong way with no clear mission and no benchmark of success.

Stop the Neo Con madness, vote Democrat in November.

Vote Democrat for surrender and appeasement!

Then we’ll be safe.

The speed at which the MSM went from ignoring Iraq to proclaiming that we were losing was actually pretty impressive. I didn’t know they could move that fast any more. But when they had to back up their narrative of our loss with facts like “230 people have died in Iraq because of this latest battle” (not saying where those 230 people were or which side they were on) I knew that the good guys were winning. It’s like deciphering coverage in the old Soviet newspapers.