The Roman Republic barred its military leaders from bringing their legions across that watery boundary so that Roman troops would never be used against Roman citizens. While the legionnaires were free to butcher men, women and children anywhere else in the Mediterranean world, citizens of Rome enjoyed special privilege. They were immune until Julius Caesar brought his legion across that famous river, causing the Roman Senate to flee in fear and bringing the Roman Republic to an end.
America has now reached the point where its ruthless leaders so despise its people and its press that they feel it is safer politically to test dangerous new weapons on protestors and unruly crowds in the U. S. than in the streets of Baghdad or Ramallah. Like Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein, they have complete confidence that they can do whatever they like within the boundaries of the country they rule.
Many of us have wished for the death of the myth of American exceptionalism, but few could have foreseen its end announced by an Air Force Secretary who urged his own government to "nuke" Americans first.
Nearly 58,000 Americans were killed in the Vietnam conflict along with more than a quarter million South Vietnamese and other allied soldiers. The Vietnamese government puts the official military death toll at 1.1 North Vietnamese soldiers and Viet Cong. Civilian deaths are estimated at 2 million to 3.5 million.
9/11 attacks: 3,030 deaths.
More than 2,600 U. S. troops have been killed in Iraq. Estimates of civilian deaths range from 50,000 to 150,000 plus 55,000 insurgents. The Economist estimated that as many as 360,000 children died in Iraq prior to the war as the result of sanctions imposed at the urging of the U. S.
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