A Tale of Two Tolls
Consider for the moment the numbers 2,973 and 2,978.
The first represents the widely accepted number of individuals who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. The second is the number of service members killed in Iraq since the US invaded in March of 2003. Yesterday, when the media reported that this latter number had outpaced the former, some on the right were livid at the juxtaposition of what they saw as two completely unrelated tallies.
And indeed they would be unrelated, had it not been for the Bush administration who constantly cited 9/11 and Iraq together so often that they became inexorably linked in the minds of many Americans. They exploited the revenger mentality which still lingers to this day, particularly amongst the troops. Which makes the comparison all the more apt, since it is the troops who are being asked to continue to add to the needless death toll began on that gloomy September morn.
Update: It's been pointed out to me that this post may be read in such a way that it advocates that terrorists or other nations can get a free pass so long as they don't kill more Americans than we are willing to lose in a war. That was not my intention of course. The point was to highlight the needlessness of all who have perished, and continue to do so, for the wrong war.
The first represents the widely accepted number of individuals who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. The second is the number of service members killed in Iraq since the US invaded in March of 2003. Yesterday, when the media reported that this latter number had outpaced the former, some on the right were livid at the juxtaposition of what they saw as two completely unrelated tallies.
And indeed they would be unrelated, had it not been for the Bush administration who constantly cited 9/11 and Iraq together so often that they became inexorably linked in the minds of many Americans. They exploited the revenger mentality which still lingers to this day, particularly amongst the troops. Which makes the comparison all the more apt, since it is the troops who are being asked to continue to add to the needless death toll began on that gloomy September morn.
Update: It's been pointed out to me that this post may be read in such a way that it advocates that terrorists or other nations can get a free pass so long as they don't kill more Americans than we are willing to lose in a war. That was not my intention of course. The point was to highlight the needlessness of all who have perished, and continue to do so, for the wrong war.
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