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Did anyone hear about this recently--that at least five of the US casualties in Iraq in the last couple of weeks were actually suicides? Apparently it was mentioned in passing the other night, and the pentagon is being very close-lipped about it.
Coupled with the recent condemnation of several soldiers' negative comments (including one where it was recommended that Sec. of Def. Rumsfeld resign), and the final admission that the US IS facing a guerrilla war in Iraq, I was wondering what other folks' take on these developments are.
My own fear is that the guerrilla war may be seen as an excuse to widen the conflict, despite growing antagonism to the Bush admin.'s policies, both at home and abroad. It might seem a bit cliche to start comparisons with Vietnam (which is probably inevitable), but its important to recall that the Vietnam war was a regional conflict, that is, the fighting was not limited to North and South Vietnam (as Laos and Cambodia can attest). A recent skirmish with some Syrian borderguards brought that dangerously close to occurring. What I'm concerned about is that the assertion may be made soon that the guerrillas are getting "outside help", and then of course we're off intervening in Syria or Iran or both.
Also, what with the perceived credibility gap emerging in Bush's war plans (uranium from Niger, etc.) and a sputtering economy, the admin. needs a distraction now more than ever. Or maybe I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop? Regardless, soldiers killing themselves is not a good sign. The fact that they are being stationed over there seemingly in perpetuity is even more disgraceful considering how many "chickenhawks" are serving in the Bush admin. |
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