'I just want to survive and go home with all my body parts'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1430375,00.html

Sergeant David Phillips, 23, sighed and patted his flak jacket. "I just want to stay alive and go home with all my body parts." He spoke for 150,000 American soldiers in Iraq.

Yesterday the number of US military deaths since the March 2003 invasion crept over 1,500.

There was no official acknowledgment of the milestone, just curt statements that three soldiers had died in two separate attacks on Wednesday. "Names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin." The figure includes accidents.

The daily drip of US casualties passes almost unnoticed now, a footnote to the wider slaughter of Iraqis: five policemen killed in two car bombs yesterday, 13 soldiers killed on Wednesday, a judge on Tuesday, at least 115 police and army recruits and civilians on Monday. Some 18,000 civilians are estimated to have died.

Yesterday's headlines were about the renewal of Iraq's state of emergency, fresh attacks on oil pipelines, and deadlock between Shias and Kurds over forming a new government.

good luck getting them back unscathed

where Peter Jennings reported on the 1,500 mark for US fatalities, then gave the number of known injured (11,000 or so) and also the Iraqi deaths--the figure he gave was over 18,000. I'm sure it's much higher, but sources of accurate information are difficult to nail down, I'm pretty sure. Wasn't the lead story, but at least ABC reported it.

Tired Old Cynic

>> "I don't tell my mom or my wife that we drive up and down streets getting blown up every day. They'd just worry all the time. I tell them we sit in the base and do the odd mission," said Sgt Nathan Purdy, who is 23. <<

Guess he doesn't think his mother or his wife will read this interview. :eyes:

It's so important for the American public to know what's going on in Iraq, but I can't imagine how much anxiety these families have to live with each and every day.

Edited for stupid typos

(/outrage)
(sarcasm)
Ungrateful little bastards. They should be thankful for the opportunity to earn $1000/month and get free travel to see the world! And get free food! unless they're in the hospital after being wounded. And if they live through the war and come home, we're going to give them a free college education. Maybe. And guaranteed health coverage for the rest of their lives! Well, probably not.

But still! Free travel! except when they come home on leave.

(/sarcasm)
(outrage)

:mad:

Who do you think will prevail?