In a warped effort to minimize the number of US casualties that have died in the illegal war on Iraq, the right-wing blogosphere is buzzing with inane justifications now that the death toll has reached 2000+. I guess that’s what you have to do when you continue to support a president who, without a doubt, lied to everyone about his reasons for the invasion which has also resulted in the deaths and injuries of countless Iraqis – countless because your president refuses to acknowledge the real destruction he’s caused.
Just as CNN did yesterday in a report in which it compared the number of deaths to those in the Battle of the Bulge, wingers are trying to comfort themselves by proclaiming it’s ”only 2000”, after all. “So while we mourn our servicemen and women, and celebrate their heroism, and thank their families for their sacrifice, let’s keep this in perspective,” that blogger writes. This coming from a person who has to use CDC stats on deaths from septicemia to prove that 2000 dead soldiers are no big deal. Pathetic.
One wingnut commenter over at Sister Toldjah’s site chimed in with this:
2000 is a number. The lefties, Bush-haters, and anti-war idiots think a round number is so fearsome.
I don’t see these people recoiling from the round numbers of people killed by the left wing regimes in Vietnam, China, and Cambodia (Pol Pot). I don’t see them counting the number of people killed by al Qaida and demanding that they stop.
Just like their dear leader, when all else fails – lie. No doubt, right-wing nutbars like that don’t think the 2000+ who died on September 11, 2001 counted for much either except when they want to use 9/11 to justify whatever bile they choose to spew on any given day.
Look. You can’t have it both ways. Either a death means something or it doesn’t. If you keep beating the war drums and insist that every single person who died in Iraq to this point died because “freedom is on the march”, either you honour those soldiers or you don’t. And if you choose to minimize the number of soldiers who have died, then you don’t know what it truly means to honour anyone.
So take your smug justifications and stick them where the sun don’t shine. The rest of us “anti-war idiots” will be somberly remembering what those deaths mean today – and every day – until this insane war ends and we will also fight your dear leader who still refuses to give the troops the proper protection and equipment they need. And, we will not hide in our houses or in the halls of government like you. We will stand out in the streets and show you exactly what honouring the dead really means.
