Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Have the Busheviks Lost "the Colonel" in Chicago?

Many of October's war dead on extended, multiple tours
By James Janega and Sara Olkon, Tribune staff reporters.
(Tribune staff reporter Michelle Keller contributed to this report)
(Published November 1, 2006)
Almost a third of the 102 U.S. troops killed in Iraq in October--the fourth deadliest month of the war--were on extended, second or third tours. At home, that prolonged exposure to danger added heartache to the deaths and underscored national anxiety over a conflict more protracted than anyone expected.

Among the first to die in October was Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Rojas, 27, of Hammond, Ind."He should have come home," Assistant Principal Cynthia Warner said of the 1997 Hammond High School graduate, killed two months after his tour was extended. "He should be home. He shouldn't be coming home the way he did."

A Tribune analysis of Department of Defense information and interviews with family members sketched a portrait of the war U.S. troops are fighting. All but 10 of those killed in October were enlisted, their average age 24. Of those who died, 58 were killed by mines and makeshift bombs, eight fell to sniper fire and 30 more died in skirmishes on missions. Another six died in accidents and non-hostile incidents. (MORE)
Quoth John Kerry:
"How do you order someone to be the last soldier killed for a mistake?"

1 comment:

charley said...

the upside down flag made me laugh.

one of the reasons i'm such an ardent defender of j. kerry is because of his stance after he returned from vietnam(it's certainly not his political acumen). i was only 12 when i started worrying about whether i'd be drafted, it dragged on for a long time. i'd already decided that war was wrong, way wrong. my father was a captain in WWII and Korea. i felt like a pussy for not wanting to defend my country. i was only 12, and here was a decorated hero saying the war was wrong, and he was right. muhammad ali said it even better.

i assuaged my self by realizing if worse came to worse it would only be one year, or i could get a pic of myself blowing someone. charming thoughts for a 12 year old. no fucking way was i going to go.

war sucks, there are probably circumstances that warrant it's extreme force, but not many. certainly not based on a lie.