Quote:
Originally Posted by hbpierrat
"12 dead in a month, we lose more than that monthly during basic training and off base auto accidents".
Its great how you can trivialize the deaths of 12 soldiers/sons/daughters who died in a war zone for the sake of your endless drivel.... 
It reminds me of another of your posts concerning the typhoon ferry deaths in the Phillipines...." oh let me guess...its in the Phillipines"....same mindset |
Drivel? Perhaps.
I would hazard though that your inability to put matters Iraqi or Phillipine in perspective bespeaks something of far more concern than mere drivel. We could start with a lack of knowledge of history or perhaps an overly solipsitic view of life. I'd put my money on just old-fashioned immature emotionalism.
There were 22,720 casualties at Antietam. In one day. It is still the bloodiest day in American history. In three days at Gettysburg there were over 50,000 casualties. Now that's a tremendous loss that serves to put the loss of 12 irreplacable soldiers in some perspective. And one must always have perspective in war. Had D-Day not gone as it did, our perspective of the horrendous loss of life on those beaches would be different, wouldn't it?
Soldiers die. That's part and parcel of the job they do. And that's why I honor even the lowest rate cook stationed the furthest from the front. He may well be called upon to sacrifice his life, unbeknownst to me, at any time so that I may have the freedom I cherish. I honor every last one of them, alive or dead. But I also give credit to their generalship and the overall leadership of the military that allows us to engage the enemy half a world away, totally devastate him, and sustain so relatively few losses.
If I read about a ferry disaster with large loss of life my mind immediately turns to the Phillipines. It was much the same 32 years ago when I first travelled there. If I hear of massive casualties in a flood, I immediately think of Bangladesh where keeping track of the annual death toll due to flooding is merely a matter of guessing. Both reactions stem from an intimate acquaintance with reality in the world as I know it.
Your sensitivity to those 12 deaths is admirable. You're obviously more sensitive than I. You win the moral superiority contest of the day. If you've any spare time, perhaps you might consider picking up the burden of lamenting the 5000 young people we lose to suicide each year. There are approximately 50,000 traffic fatalities per year just awaiting your lamentations. I've got a real good idea as to what those 12 soldiers died for In Iraq. I have absolutely no idea or understanding as to why almost 5000 young people would extinguish their own lives. Perhaps they were exposed to the moral vacuousness you espouse and saw no reason to continue.
You might want to print off this thread and show it to the padre; he'll punch your ticket for you.