Let’s Not Antagonize the Terrorists
282 days since Sen. Hillary Clinton declared U.S. victory in Iraq.
299 days since Sen. Hillary Clinton declared the U.S. mainland safe from terrorists (despite our Commander-in-Chief).
A few days ago, the Boston Globe published a graphic editorial; 4 coffins, each comprised of 1,000 tiny little ribbon, each ribbon representing a U.S. military member killed in the war in Iraq (that Sens. Clinton, Edwards and Kerry voted for and that Sens. Clinton and Obama supported with funding votes through 2006).
But, before I get to my letter submitted in response to the recent graphic, know that the artist submitted a prior editorial marking the death of the 2000th military member killed. This was the letter I submitted in response to that graphic:
Editor,
I appreciated Mr. Thomas Starr's essay and accompanying graphic, "1,000 lives, again (October 27, 2005, A13)", for the dramatic manner in which he illustrates the loss of 2,000 U.S. military personnel in prosecuting the war on terror. Mr. Starr constructed two coffins from tiny ribbons, one for each military life lost.
I also appreciated the math showed that the average annual death toll increased by 200 deaths for the second 1,000 servicepeople killed compared to the first 1,000.
Accepting the 2,900 Americans that were murdered by terrorists on September 11, 2001 were killed in less than two hours, the average annual death rate by terrorism that day was 12,702,000 lives per year.
Mr. Starr's two "coffins" filled about 1/6 of a page of the Boston Globe. At 12,000 lives per page, the Boston Globe would need 1,059 pages to comparably represent the average annual loss of life from the terrorism visited on America on September 11.
No wonder there is not a single United States Senator calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. (End of letter.)
My letter in response to the graphic of 4,000 ribbons:
Editor,
I'm not really sure how to address Mr. Thomas Starr's editorial graphic of 4,000 ribbons representing the 4,000 U.S. military personnel killed fighting terrorists in Iraq.
Do I ask where the editorial graphic is of Saddam Hussein's an-Anfal campaign of 1986 - 1989 which took the lives of an estimated 182,000 Kurds?
Or, do I ask where is the editorial graphic is of the 4,274 innocents slaughtered by just a few selected terrorist attacks: 9/11 (3,000; victims were global), Pan-Am/Lockerbie (270; victims were global), the Beirut barracks bombing (241 US; 58 French), the Bali bombings (202; victims were global), the African Embassy bombings (Tanzanian, 11; Kenyan, 212), the Madrid bombing (191), the London bombings (52), the Khobar Towers bombing (19) and the USS Cole bombing (18)?
It took 1/3 of a newspaper page to depict Mr. Starr's editorial. It would take almost 16 full newspaper pages to comparably depict those killed by Hussein during his an-Anfal campaign. (End of letter.)
282 days since Sen. Hillary Clinton declared U.S. victory in Iraq.
299 days since Sen. Hillary Clinton declared the U.S. mainland safe from terrorists (despite our Commander-in-Chief).
A few days ago, the Boston Globe published a graphic editorial; 4 coffins, each comprised of 1,000 tiny little ribbon, each ribbon representing a U.S. military member killed in the war in Iraq (that Sens. Clinton, Edwards and Kerry voted for and that Sens. Clinton and Obama supported with funding votes through 2006).
But, before I get to my letter submitted in response to the recent graphic, know that the artist submitted a prior editorial marking the death of the 2000th military member killed. This was the letter I submitted in response to that graphic:
Editor,
I appreciated Mr. Thomas Starr's essay and accompanying graphic, "1,000 lives, again (October 27, 2005, A13)", for the dramatic manner in which he illustrates the loss of 2,000 U.S. military personnel in prosecuting the war on terror. Mr. Starr constructed two coffins from tiny ribbons, one for each military life lost.
I also appreciated the math showed that the average annual death toll increased by 200 deaths for the second 1,000 servicepeople killed compared to the first 1,000.
Accepting the 2,900 Americans that were murdered by terrorists on September 11, 2001 were killed in less than two hours, the average annual death rate by terrorism that day was 12,702,000 lives per year.
Mr. Starr's two "coffins" filled about 1/6 of a page of the Boston Globe. At 12,000 lives per page, the Boston Globe would need 1,059 pages to comparably represent the average annual loss of life from the terrorism visited on America on September 11.
No wonder there is not a single United States Senator calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. (End of letter.)
My letter in response to the graphic of 4,000 ribbons:
Editor,
I'm not really sure how to address Mr. Thomas Starr's editorial graphic of 4,000 ribbons representing the 4,000 U.S. military personnel killed fighting terrorists in Iraq.
Do I ask where the editorial graphic is of Saddam Hussein's an-Anfal campaign of 1986 - 1989 which took the lives of an estimated 182,000 Kurds?
Or, do I ask where is the editorial graphic is of the 4,274 innocents slaughtered by just a few selected terrorist attacks: 9/11 (3,000; victims were global), Pan-Am/Lockerbie (270; victims were global), the Beirut barracks bombing (241 US; 58 French), the Bali bombings (202; victims were global), the African Embassy bombings (Tanzanian, 11; Kenyan, 212), the Madrid bombing (191), the London bombings (52), the Khobar Towers bombing (19) and the USS Cole bombing (18)?
It took 1/3 of a newspaper page to depict Mr. Starr's editorial. It would take almost 16 full newspaper pages to comparably depict those killed by Hussein during his an-Anfal campaign. (End of letter.)
posted by Zack at 5:11 PM
4 Comments:
I was at a family gathering to celebrate the resurrection.
Conversation turned to politics. The room was equally divided: Hillary, Barak, loyal Republicans (mostly Mitt supporters who will pull the lever for the hero McCain).
The Hillary/Barak supporters were vocal about "getting out of Bush's war." Both groups denied their candidate supported the war.
Hillary supporters said they were duped. I pointed out how smart she (allegedly) is. I was overwhelmed (meaning the Hillary supporters were talking louder) with "Bush manufactured intelligence!!" When I pointed out that US Senators have the authority (responsibility) to root out such nefarious behavior they (again) screamed "Its Bush's fault!"
The Barak supporters said he's not responsible for his pastor--even though the wicked so-called Reverend Wright has been a "spiritual advisor" (Barak's words) for more than twenty years, and he's (Barak) brought his children into the flock. They accused the Clintons of "planting" the story with the press. They said the press is taking the so-called Reverend's words "out of context" (as if there is any appropriate context!!).
I asked both groups if they would be voting for the other's candidate in November. Both howled NO! Even after calming them down and pointing out that could mean a Republican victory they said they would sit out the election. I believe them.
The loyal Republicans smirked in the corner.
Yes, reader, my family does represent the entire population.
This election is O-V-E-R.
great read in Saturday's WSJ by Peggy Noonan (last page of the paper, W18) re: the psychosis of Hillary.
when's the first "Absentee governor" (Patrick) post?
Hardball,
Several things, I start with the last first, welcome to my opinion. As everyone who reads this space knows, as long ago as February 14, 2007, I've been writing the Republicans would keep the White House in 2008.
Second, recent polls support your anecdote, large groups of Clinton and Obama supporters are vowing to not vote for the other Dem if their Dem is not the nominee. Yes, I expect the number to drop as election day nears but I suspect 25 - 50% of the number to, if not vote for McCain, at least stay home on Election Day.
And the hate and divisiveness keeps coming from the Clinton campaign: Judas? Carville and Begala are indeed the masters of the politics of personal destruction and divisive politics.
It's been exactly 300 days since Sen. Clinton declared the US safe from terrorists and that that the US won in Iraq.
Anonymous, I have not read a single Boston Globe article about Gov. Patrick. I really am clueless about State politics. My invitation to you is to give me one or two issues I should follow and when I see those issues noted in a headline, I'll do my best to read the Globe story, formulate my own opinion, and make a post. While you're teeing the issues for me, please also consider me a blank canvas that can be swayed to your view on the issues you highlight. Please let me know your thoughts on the issues before I start reading about them.
March 30, 4:06 pm.
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