IT MUST be "Groundhog Day." Every morning, I turn to the homepage on my computer, CNN.com, and stare in shock at reading virtually the same headline that runs something like "Attack kills U.S. Military policeman" (Nov. 10). I think to myself that I cannot possibly be reading this same headline again, and in fact, I am not. Today's story tells another repetitive and unfortunate tale of a young American soldier whose life has ended while serving our country in a land he has no place being.
It makes me wonder: For how long can the American public wince, then turn their heads away from the mockery that our latest war in Middle East has become? For how long will the deaths of American soldiers fighting on behalf of a convoluted, misdirected effort at upholding international civil liberties compromise the rights and the lives of our own, as well as the livelihoods of millions of others who are simply caught in the middle of the battlefield? Thirty-eight American soldiers have been killed in the month of November alone, and nearly 400 since war efforts have begun. Although President Bush declared an end to "major combat" months ago on May 1, 259 U.S. military members have been killed since -- I am left to wonder whether the deaths of these American men and women are not major indeed.
Two weeks ago, over a dozen soldiers died when their helicopter was shot down flying over Iraq, and the day following the memorial service for these fallen soldiers, six major military officers were killed when their Black Hawk was also gunned down, by what the military has stated was possible ground fire. Rather unsurprisingly, word of these deaths shoot rapid fire across the news and television screens to make way for more local updates on the president's waning popularity, the court trial of the D.C. sniper or news on the Democratic presidential candidates vying for a nod. Understandably, news media shies away from inundating the American public with the sad stories and often gory details of fallen soldiers; however, if we all got a more realistic picture of what is going on in Iraq, the more we would demand a concrete resolution to ending the madness.
Shortly following the Black Hawk crash, the media reported the news of two soldiers killed in their vehicle after running over a homemade bomb as they made route across a major highway in the town of Fallujah, and later that day, yet another soldier perished when an explosive device hit a convoy stationed in Baghdad. As the Red Cross announced that they would be pulling out of Baghdad due to overly-hazardous conditions, the death toll continued to rise early this week with news of another death of a soldier -- this time a young man, killed in a grenade attack south of Iraq's capital city.
The story of one soldier, however, paled in comparison to the top headline featuring whether or not Bush's anti-terrorism homeland policies were unconstitutional -- still significant news indeed.
However, as the stories of the deaths of one soldier after another briefly pass across the front page of the newspaper, I wonder if we are simply forgetting the current mission of the U.S. military operation abroad or if we know what it is at all. With so much emphasis placed on power politics, and without a concrete vision for where we are headed in the Middle East, soon more and more Americans will be forced to realize the unstable ideology behind the "war on terror" and the military's lackluster operation. Although many have lambasted the president for poor decision-making, the rising death toll will continue to add up, until ultimately, people realize that these are not just headlines, but that these are real soldiers' lives.
According to the president, we are no longer in "major" military combat, but that false ideology fails to address the fact that soldiers are dying in Iraq every day. American casualties will ultimately only become more problematic right here, as politics and elections, anti-terrorism policies, the constitutional rights of citizens and the lives of our U.S. soldiers all come to a head -- and they will do so in a way that the Bush administration does not seem anywhere near prepared for.
Even former presidential candidate Al Gore has come out of his shell to criticize Bush's failed attempts at restoring any sense of order in the Middle East, stating that the Bush administration has done nothing more than to try and consolidate power and retaliate against unidentified adversaries in the Middle East, causing nothing more than chaos and turmoil for our military operations ("Gore accuses Bush of undermining freedoms," CNN.com, Nov.9). Bush has done nothing more than use his "war on terrorism" and notions of patriotism to promote his own political agenda, and has done so at the cost of many American lives.
Now, I understand that it's not that easy. I understand that war, and protecting the rights of others, as well as our own, is no simple task. But by no means is it a minor task either. If the powers that be fail to realize the toll that the even this most-transitory of wars has taken on the American public, or fails to recognize the true tone with which the United States military should be taking abroad, then they all need to take a closer look at the list of casualties that continues to grow. The faces and lives of our very own citizens should not be used as political pawns, and are definitely no minor matter.
(Kazz Alexander Pinkard's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at kpinkard@cavalierdaily.com.)
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