Is it that the Iraqi's are unfamiliar with the concept of freedom? Has our worldview been so thoroughly corrupted that we believe that our 18 year olds understand the concept of freedom better than a 30 year old Iraqi who has lived under a one-man despotic rule and a subsequent occupation by a foreign army?
Other numbers that shed an unflattering light on our willingness to sacrifice our young to prove think tank armchair warriors correct and to salvage poll numbers for politicians are found in an "age-group" comparison of those killed in Iraq between the U.S. and the U.K. The fact that the U.S. has lost many more soldiers overall is addressed below.
U.S. and U.K. deaths by age-group:
U.K.- British troops suffered their highest losses among the 21-30 year olds at 48.4%. However, their second highest rate was among the 31-40 year olds at 35.5%.
Their 18-20 year olds came in at 9.7%.
If one does take into account that the British have far fewer troops in Iraq than the U.S., the resulting observation clearly shows that their armed forces aren't as taxed as ours and therefore backs up the theory proposed above, namely, we're tossing our young into a conflict they have no business being in and may not be ready to fight. The larger number of U.S. troops (in total of both troops present and troops killed) has no impact on the statistical analysis but does have an impact on overall troop commitment and the underlying difficulty of fulfilling that commitment with willing bodies.
The fighting them "there rather than fighting them here" mantra has no bearing on who we are sending to fight or on the concept of a true threat to our freedom. If there were an obvious threat to our freedoms from an external source, the American public should be given more credit as there would certainly be lines forming in front of recruiting stations by men and women of all ages. Also, the bombings in Madrid, and now twice in London are quickly exposing that line of reasoning as a cheap applause line.
Furthermore, the fact (oft-repeated lately) that Iraqi troops are getting killed should hold no sway in this discussion. After all, it is their country. They should be willing to kill for it and to die for it.
While we certainly owe Iraq, why is our leadership so blind and unimaginative, so absolutely lacking in planning and diplomatic skills that the debt we owe is being partially paid back with the blood of our 18 and 19 year olds?
If, in fact, the Administration is hell-bent on "staying the course" and continues the current Iraqi policy regardless of consequences, it could simultaneously work on lowering the drinking age to 18. That way, returning young soldiers won't be ticketed and/or hauled off to jail while toasting their fellow "teenage" fallen comrades- in-arms.
R. J. Kovic ameripundit@yahoo.com lectures on Political Science and Law with an emphasis on the role of the rule of law in developed and emerging democracies.
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