Apples and doorknobs
There's a lot of stupidity on the worldwide internet tubes, but some things so far exceed the parameters of "stupid" that they redefine the word. "Stupid Squared" is taken, so let's call this "Stupid Squared to the power of 10".
The rabidly right-wing New York Sun, attempting to rationalize the 3100+ troops killed in Iraq, argues that according to Dept. of Defense troop casualty figures, there were more troop deaths in the peacetime enjoyed during 4 years of the Clinton administration than in the 4-year-long Iraq war:
"The total military dead in the Iraq war between 2003 and this month stands at about 3,133. This is tragic, as are all deaths due to war, and we are facing a cowardly enemy unlike any other in our past that hides behind innocent citizens. Each death is blazoned in the headlines of newspapers and Internet sites. What is never compared is the number of military deaths during the Clinton administration: 1,245 in 1993; 1,109 in 1994; 1,055 in 1995; 1,008 in 1996. That's 4,417 deaths in peacetime but, of course, who's counting?"
Of course, the PDF from the DoD reveals that the cause of these casualties was almost exclusively accident and illness. While accidental deaths have been lower of late, that's to be expected as training and equipment improves. But it in no way justifies or excuses the deaths in action in a war that should never have happened in the first place. DUH!
(from andrew sullivan)
The rabidly right-wing New York Sun, attempting to rationalize the 3100+ troops killed in Iraq, argues that according to Dept. of Defense troop casualty figures, there were more troop deaths in the peacetime enjoyed during 4 years of the Clinton administration than in the 4-year-long Iraq war:
"The total military dead in the Iraq war between 2003 and this month stands at about 3,133. This is tragic, as are all deaths due to war, and we are facing a cowardly enemy unlike any other in our past that hides behind innocent citizens. Each death is blazoned in the headlines of newspapers and Internet sites. What is never compared is the number of military deaths during the Clinton administration: 1,245 in 1993; 1,109 in 1994; 1,055 in 1995; 1,008 in 1996. That's 4,417 deaths in peacetime but, of course, who's counting?"
Of course, the PDF from the DoD reveals that the cause of these casualties was almost exclusively accident and illness. While accidental deaths have been lower of late, that's to be expected as training and equipment improves. But it in no way justifies or excuses the deaths in action in a war that should never have happened in the first place. DUH!
(from andrew sullivan)
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