Friday, June 16, 2006

the toll paid

Yesterday the tally of dead American service personnel officially reached 2500. The number of Iraqi civilian casualties is far higher. Tonight on "The Evening New With Jim Lehrer" the names and photographs of twenty dead soldiers were shown.

I do not pretend to have answers, whether easy or difficult. I do know that something has got to change, for all of our sakes.

8 comments:

Jim Wetzel said...

Lemming, I hear what you're saying. And I think that it's true: things really do have to change; there's a limit to the duration of this folly. Maybe the limit will turn out to be political; maybe economic; maybe supernatural. Tragically, though, I don't see that the limit has to be reached very soon. In time, things will change. I just hope "in time" doesn't mean several more decades.

tommyspoon said...

There is a very simple answer: bring our troops home. NOW.

Matt Brown said...

Lemming: I agree that things have to change, and it's certainly difficult to ascertain as to what would be the best course. I fear that Tommyspoon's answer, as nice as it sounds, is far too simplistic.

tommyspoon said...

Ok, I'm an editor and I can edit...

There is a very simple answer: set a timetable for bringing our troops home.

There. Better?

lemming said...

There will be a civil war, whether we leave tomorrow or in ten years.

As an eternal optimist, I still cling to the ideal that there must be a greater good.

tommyspoon said...

Lemming, I admire your optimisim even though I think it is horribly misplaced. The only "greater good" being served here is greed. And I'm not talking about oil.

tommyspoon said...

...I am so busy having sex with elephants...

So that's what really goes on in faculty meetings?

;-)

Matt Brown said...

Tommy: Yep, setting a timetable is certainly not simplistic; it's a necessity.