Troops keep dying -- but for what?

Posted on Wed, Jul. 23, 2003

JANE EISNER
Troops keep dying -- but for what?

We all remember the scene, and if not, the political strategists will remind us of it again and again. President Bush dramatically helped pilot a Navy jet onto an aircraft carrier returning home from the Persian Gulf, and the commander-in-chief, who never actually saw combat, was greeted as if he were a conquering hero.

Saddam Hussein had been toppled. The United States and its allies had prevailed.

''Major combat operations in Iraq have ended,'' Bush declared, his voice cracking with emotion.

''Our mission continues,'' he went on to say, but that modest reminder surely was lost under the blare of a huge banner held aloft by the sea's breeze and the nation's fervent hopes: ``Mission Accomplished.''

That was May 1.

Since then, American servicemen and servicewomen have been dying in Iraq at a rate exceeding one a day -- 87 deaths in 76 days, as of this writing.

Their names probably are not familiar to you; there's no Jeffrey Zahn or Jessica Lynch celebrity among them. Just Marine Lance Cpl. Cory Ryan Guerin, 18, of Santee, Calif., who died July 15 in an accident. And Army Sgt. Michael T. Crockett, 27, of Soperton, Ga., killed in action the day before. - http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/6361643.htm

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That's rich.