No Deaths in March
Link: http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/03/31/3421286/zero-combat-deaths/Summery: According to the Department of Defense, last month was the first month in more then a decade in which there were zero U.S. fatalities among American troops engaged in combat overseas. Conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan notably have been the cause for most of the recent casualties. We had previously lost 4,474 military men in Iraq. The worst month of the Iraqi conflict was July 2010, when we lost 65 military personnel. In addition, 2176 U.S. military members have been killed in action in Afghanistan. March wasn't completely death free however, as two allied soldiers died and 16 civilians died in an attack this past weekend. Although the deaths are slowing, the conflict isn't showing any signs of being resolved.
Response:
Although impressive that we lost zero
American lives overseas, it is still unfortunate to lose allied lives. The war
against radical Islamic extremists is a brutal one. I personally believe that
to truly finish business overseas, we must go all out, or remove our forces. It
is no use having men picked off out there if we aren’t there to help them out.
It is disappointing to see that we lose serviceman to roadside bombs and other
tactics by the radicals because the victims are forgotten and the matter just
chalked up as another casualty. If we are genuinely going to send military out
to Iraq and Afghanistan, we need to send them with a goal and mindset. It is no
use to have them there for the sake of military presence instead of hoping to
accomplish a goal. That is why while it is impressive that we did not lose anybody,
it is sad to see that very little is being accomplished. I would rather see
progress made to secure the unrest in that region, then to see our men and
women out there being “a positive influence.” We can have influence
diplomatically, but if we really are sending our forces down there, lets let
them do their jobs. No official loses, but still unanswered questions.
I totally agree Chase. We are not going to get anything done without a sure plan of what we are doing. We have to do more than just have our troops stationed there if we want to get anything accomplished.
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