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January 11, 2007
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January 11, 2007 |
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Editorial In Iraq, a different way forward The youngest of the last 1,000 American soldiers to die in the Iraq war was Jeremy Shank, 18, from Jackson, Mo. The oldest to die was Theodore Spatol, 59, of Thermopolis, Wyoming. The most common surname of those who died was Jones (6 deaths), Miller (6), and Brown (6), followed by Williams (5) and Garcia (5). The deceased soldier who hailed from the northernmost part of the country appears to be Joseph Love, 23, from North Pole, Alaska. While some who died were older and a few female, most were young men in their 20s. While we are very lucky that Yellow Springs’ own Adkins, Janson, has safely returned from his Iraq tour of duty, another Adkins, Dustin, 23, of Finger, Tenn., did not. These are a few facts about the 1,000 Americans who died in Iraq last year, as identified by their photos, ages and hometowns published in the New York Times on Jan. 1. The Times published the information on the occasion of the 3,000th soldier to die in the Iraq war, an event which took place Dec. 28 with the death of Dustin Donica, 22, of Spring, Texas, by small arms fire in Baghdad. While the Times photos yield some facts, they invite even more questions. For instance, who was the woman, just off camera, kissing the then-still-alive Timothy Boyce, 29, of North Salt Lake, Utah? What exactly was Christopher Esckelson, 22, of Vassar, Mich., looking at to create such an astonishing expression of joy and hope? Other questions arise. Had their lives not been cut short, how many of these young men and women would have become dads and moms? How many already were? What will it be like for their children to grow up without them? How will their own moms, dads, wives and siblings learn to wake up each morning, put one foot in front of the other and live through the day? Unlike most articles on the Iraq war, the Times article included statistics on the deaths of Iraqi civilians. The estimates range from 28,000 killed in the last year (United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq) to 600,000 killed in the past three years (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health). The Times article did not include the names, photos or hometowns of Iraqis killed, but we can assume these people also had mothers, fathers, children and lovers, and that hundreds of thousands more lives have been shattered by grief and rage. This week, in response to overwhelming evidence that Iraq has exploded in sectarian violence; in response to the American people’s mid-term election message that they want out of this war; in response to advice from generals that this new action will likely increase the violence — in response to these things, President Bush will announce that 20,000 to 30,000 more American troops will be sent to Iraq as part of a “surge,” a “new way forward.” In our name, with our tax dollars, our government continues to wage — and yes, to escalate — this ill-conceived, unnecessary and immoral war. But perhaps Bush is right. Perhaps we do need a surge. But the surge we need is a surge of Americans who have seen one too many photos of young men killed in a meaningless war, who have read one too many stories about the devastation of Iraqi lives. We need a surge of Americans willing to march in Washington, to write their congressperson, to stop paying taxes that pay for the conflict, to do what needs to be done to stop this insanity. We need a surge of Americans who say loudly and clearly- — enough. In this way, we’ll find a way forward. But it’s clear that our government won’t find the way for us. We need to do it ourselves.
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