Thousand lost lives grab our attention

excerpted from September 12, 2004 | San Francisco Chronicle

by Vicki Haddock

This past week … the 1,000th U.S. casualty [in Iraq] reclaimed our attention. [That’s nearly three times as many as in the first Gulf War.]…

It’s been 16 months since President Bush celebrated under a banner extolling “Mission Accomplished,” more than a year since he taunted those seeking to attack Americans inside Iraq with: “Bring ’em on. We’ve got the force necessary to deal with the security situation.”

Since then, insurgents have “brought it on” with a vengeance. The casualty rate for coalition troops in Iraq now is much greater than in the months after major combat ended in 2003. And for every U.S. soldier or Marine killed in the major combat phase, eight more have died since….

Injuries to U.S. military personnel now exceed 7,000.

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