US Military Deaths in Iraq - Deaths Will Not Have Been in Vain

It is of course terrible when a member of the United States armed forces dies. We all grieve the loss of 4,113 US soldiers in Iraq. If their efforts lead to a democracy in an Arab country, it will very much be in the strategic interest of the United states. A democratic Iraq could transform the Middle eat and be very important for world peace. The US soldiers will not have died in vain.

“President Bush and Osama bin Laden both assert that Iraq has become the central front in the war on terror, though for different reasons.” (NBC's Brain Mooar reports. Sept. 8, 2007)

The US military has often taken huge losses for nothing. An example is the World War II six week Battle of the Bulge. The US Army was confidently marching towards Berlin and intelligence failed to detect a massive NAZI counterattack. We did win the battle which lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945, however, American losses totaled 84,323. 19,276 were killed, 41,493 wounded, and 23,554 captured or missing.

Serving in the US military during peacetime has always been a dangerous profession. During President Jimmy Carter’s last year in office 2,392 died. The Armed Forces was much larger then, but that is a lot of deaths.