The Iraq War Part 2

1,220,580.

This is a rough estimate of the number of innocent Iraqi lives that have been lost since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. I use the term "innocent" because these people did not ask for our help, our President took it upon himself to insert us in this country.

As of July 5, 2008, 4,118 of our brothers and sisters have died (196 of those deaths were troops that were too young to drink but old enough to die for their country); 8,298 have been wounded with medical air transport being required; 19,469 wounded no medical air transport required. Of all the wounded, 12,537 were unable to return to duty within 72 hours. Medical air transport was required for an additional 7,533 non-hostile injuries and 21,112 diseases or other medical conditions. And there are the 150 plus that have died from self-inflicted wounds.

These numbers may be staggering but consider this with the attacks of September 11 when 2,973 of our fellow Americans were killed.

Why all of the numbers you might ask? The answer is simple: We are in the middle of another Vietnam. We have gone and inserted ourselves into another country's mess and now we have no real way to get out without losing another conflict.

Of the 4,118 deaths, 3,992 have come since the fall of Baghdad; 97 percent of the deaths have occurred since we overtook the capital of Iraq. During the Vietnam war, 58,151 total deaths were reported. And all of these totals are just the troops that have died -- not to mention the troops that have been injured, many to the point that they will never return to their pre-war lives.

Many of the veterans of Vietnam suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome and have lost everything many to the point of being homeless. We are seeing the same pattern form that we saw with the veterans of Vietnam. Many of the Iraq War veterans are losing their jobs, their homes, some even their marriages. America has lost a lot of the glamour it once had in the international community, countries that once were allies now tend to shy away from us. We have amassed an astronomical debt. All for what? So that George Bush can roll oil barrels out of Iraq and control their oil as much as he and his corporate CEOs do with our oil already. I don't know about you but I am tired of paying more to fill my car up than I do for a nice steak dinner.

Being ex-military, I can understand the sacrifices these men and women make everyday and I am getting real tired of going to funerals for friends who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for this great country. We, as a nation, need to send Washington a clear message:

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW.

While my column on this Web site may not reach the rest of the country and I'm only one man, that's where each and every one of you come into play. Call your representatives in Washington and tell them to stop funding the war and bring our men and women home. Then call your friends and family in other states and have them do the same. Have them call their friends and before you know it Washington will have no choice but to hear our united voices. Remember we have the power to change this country and take it back to a time when we were proud to call ourselves Americans.