2008 Woodie Awards
Letter: Public should compare Iraq to other wars
Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
- Page 1 of 2 next >
11/27/07 - To the Cigar,
The United States of America was founded upon Judeo-Christian ethics - our moral fiber is woven according to the doctrines and principles of Judaism and Christianity. One could not ask for a more wholesome, decent set of values upon which to be set. To us, 2 + 2 will always equal 4: murder, pornography and child abuse are wrong and men and women are created with equal dignity. We are a compassionate, philanthropic, peace-loving people.
Though the U.S. occupies moral and ethical high ground, there are many people and nations in this world who are not of the same casting as us. (Osama Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein etc.) Their objectives and aspirations are not in the name of peace, charity, or the well-being of their fellow man. We, despite our peace-loving, philanthropic nature, cannot, in good faith, allow the welfare and safety of our fellow citizens-indeed, fellow man, in general-to be checked by such dangerous, ruthless savages.
Such is the case for the morality of war; that a body of people should stand like men against a tide of aggressors whose aim is to inflict harm.
War is a costly, bloody, tragic affair. No war has ever been cheap is terms of lives paid, and none ever will; killing is required in war.
We cannot forget this law of life, but it seems to be the case during the present war, when the stakes are higher than they have ever been, many people have been forgetting it or ignoring it.
In terms of lives lost, the Iraqi front has not been very costly. We have to date sustained a little under 4,000 deaths over the course of four years. But one will observe that this number is many times exceeded or approached (in hard numbers or in proportionality) in the past by single engagements and campaigns that lasted for mere days or months. Below, I list seven examples:
During the Civil War, which lasted for four years (as long as the present war), the United States lost 360,000 men, 110,000 of which were killed in action; the Confederate States of America lost 258,000 men, 98,000 of which were KIA.
The United States of America was founded upon Judeo-Christian ethics - our moral fiber is woven according to the doctrines and principles of Judaism and Christianity. One could not ask for a more wholesome, decent set of values upon which to be set. To us, 2 + 2 will always equal 4: murder, pornography and child abuse are wrong and men and women are created with equal dignity. We are a compassionate, philanthropic, peace-loving people.
Though the U.S. occupies moral and ethical high ground, there are many people and nations in this world who are not of the same casting as us. (Osama Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein etc.) Their objectives and aspirations are not in the name of peace, charity, or the well-being of their fellow man. We, despite our peace-loving, philanthropic nature, cannot, in good faith, allow the welfare and safety of our fellow citizens-indeed, fellow man, in general-to be checked by such dangerous, ruthless savages.
Such is the case for the morality of war; that a body of people should stand like men against a tide of aggressors whose aim is to inflict harm.
War is a costly, bloody, tragic affair. No war has ever been cheap is terms of lives paid, and none ever will; killing is required in war.
We cannot forget this law of life, but it seems to be the case during the present war, when the stakes are higher than they have ever been, many people have been forgetting it or ignoring it.
In terms of lives lost, the Iraqi front has not been very costly. We have to date sustained a little under 4,000 deaths over the course of four years. But one will observe that this number is many times exceeded or approached (in hard numbers or in proportionality) in the past by single engagements and campaigns that lasted for mere days or months. Below, I list seven examples:
During the Civil War, which lasted for four years (as long as the present war), the United States lost 360,000 men, 110,000 of which were killed in action; the Confederate States of America lost 258,000 men, 98,000 of which were KIA.