Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Iraq: The Price of Silence

There was an anti-war rally in Pittsburgh yesterday. Three protesters showed up.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, suicide bombers are killing people in Diyala and our troops are killing people in Baghdad, prompting Sunni leaders to journey from Anbar to stand shoulder to shoulder with Shiites to show solidarity against the US in Sadr City and the peace-loving Iranians to suspend talks with us on Iraqi security.

Nonetheless, about 3500 of the 30,000 additional American troops sent in last year are preparing to come home, leading a US general to observe, "The continued drawdown of surge brigades demonstrates continued progress in Iraq."

They will be coming home as the director of the National Institute of Mental Health predicts that the number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care.

On the campaign trail, the presidential candidates have a lot to say about a gas-tax holiday but nothing about a bloody war that keeps getting more bizarre by the day and eating up more of our money than rising prices at the pump.

Maybe they'll get to it after the summer driving season is over.

1 comment:

Larry Jones said...

Well said, Mr. Stein. It's scary that this useless, stupid war has slipped from public concern.