I'm wrong. It's worse than Vietnam.

So Twoback, answer me this...

Do we wait until the body count in Iraq is closer to Vietnam figures before we scratch our head and say, "You know, sometimes history DOES repeat itself?"

Or does this go beyond just a body count and entail MUCH more?

 

Bloody defeatist!

Seriously, good stuff. Thanks for the link.

 

That's billion with a "B." You knew that, FB, I know it's a typo, but others might not.

Edited to add the link.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/30/iraq.audit/

 

According to that article, Joe, that's only up until 2004. Never mind that three more years, and countless billions, have elapsed.

 

Thanks, Joe.
I meant the nine billion in cash that was left on pallets by the airstrip.

 

Seems to me that stories like this should be HUGE scandals (dare I say, almost as big as Brittany being a bad mom). It amazes me the way they so often get brushed aside by the American public.

 

I think it's important, when "getting that perspective," to also understand that even though "only" 4,000 soldiers have died compared to Vietnam, it doesn't mean that the horrible shit going on in Iraq is any less awful than what happened in Vietnam. You can read, literally, hundreds of stories about how advancements in medicine are allowing us to save the lives of thousands of soliders who would have died from similar injuries in Vietnam. There is also some debate about what kind of quality of life these soldiers are being saved to have, especially those with serious brain injuries, but that's a pretty difficult thing to quantify. The miltary won't tell us, however, how many soldiers have been seriously wounded or engage in any kind of credible debate about how many Iraqis have been killed. The situation may very well be worse, even if the death tolls are not.

 

What's nine billion between subcontractors and the U.S. Government?

 

They're using it as an R-32 blow-in cellulose to insulate Cheney's bunker for the indefinite third term.

 

If I knew what R-32 blow-in cellulose was, I'd be a smart fellow.
(There's a Larry Craig joke in here somewhere. Hmm...)

 

Nine billion shredded singles would keep any bunker cozy year 'round. And keep that oil bill manageable.

 

At least American companies are turning a profit...

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/WhosProfitingFromTheIraqWar.aspx?page=1