AP: In Iraq, Youngest U.S. Troops Bore The Heaviest Toll

[Hissyspit]

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20110820/97c885df-5ad7-4071-a2b1-429ebfc9391b

In Iraq, youngest US troops bore the heaviest toll

In this photo taken Thursday Aug. 4, 2011, the gravesite of a young soldier, Army Spc. Justin W. Hebert, killed in the infancy of the Iraq war, is seen in Silvana, Wash. Hebert’s story is sad and sadly unremarkable, a tragedy bound up in the tale of a grinding war that took young lives with grievous regularity. Nearly one-third of U.S. troops killed in Iraq were age 18 to 21. Well over half were in the lowest enlisted ranks. For Hebert, the Army was an adventure. But it didn’t last long. (AP Photo - Robert Burns)

ROBERT BURNS
From Associated Press
August 20, 2011 11:51 AM EDT

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For Hebert, the Army was an adventure. But it didn't last long.

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In the years since, the U.S. effort in Iraq has veered from the brink of calamity to the threshold of surprising success. With the remaining U.S. troops now packing to leave, possibly for good, casualties and costs will be tallied one last time.

More elusive is a firm judgment on the net benefit of the American sacrifice, the more than 4,400 dead, the tens of thousands injured and the untold numbers suffering unseen psychological wounds for years to come.

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It is also widely seen as a mistake, and by some as a waste.

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[BeFree]

1. Shared sacrifice?

What f'n millionaire lost his young life in Iraq?

None. Instead, many a young millionaire profited from that young man going over there and dieing for his country.

And just think of the billions in debt the country has taken on as the millionaires sacrificed our young soldiers for their greed. This country has some bad karma brewing.

[izquierdista]

2. And it isn't over

Not with promises being made to stay in Afghanistan until 2024.

[Tansy_Gold]

3. If I remember correctly

the same fucking thing happened in Vietnam.

Another lesson not learned.


:grr:



TG

[demosincebirth]

4. It's that way in every war. That's just the way it is.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. "If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how? Joan Baez

And, why are they enticed to do so?