From a letter to the editor of the WSJ by J. Stroble that appeared in today’s online edition:
As much as the mainstream media would like us to, those of us in fly-over country haven’t forgotten Sept. 11. I’m guessing they think that if we forget 9/11, we’ll turn against the war on terror, and if we turn against the war, we’ll turn against the president. Nobody at CNN, CBS, ABC, et. al., would like to see the president’s poll numbers get the jump they got last year around this time. I hear they’re sweeping 9/11 under the rug this coming anniversary; they don’t want to bring back “the hurt.” Gee, how nice. If only they’d show the same consideration in reporting the grisly details of American deaths in Iraq.
As I have pointed out or implied in previous blog entries, the media has perhaps not been giving proper and adequate news coverage to the U.S. casualties in Iraq. And as for the 9/11 terrorist attacks: As I implied in one of my June blog entries, remembering and focusing on those tragedies can actually can go against the recent Iraq war – specifically, focusing on the horrific atrocities committed against us on 9/11 can refute some of the left-wing, statist, ‘bleeding heart’ arguments that many of the supporters of the Iraq war are now using in order to retroactively justify it. See my past guest blog entry at the ‘Deux Ego’ site for more about this.
As we reflect on the horrific acts committed against our nation and our people almost two years ago, I hope that we remember what the purpose of our defense forces, and the brave and heroic servicemembers within our military is – to defend our nation, and to make our people more safe, and more secure. It is our country that now has thousands of people in “mass graves” due to what happened on 9/11, and since the Iraq war, more have been joining them day after day. If we don’t shift our focus back to defending America, pursuing the national interest, and placing the concerns of our country, and our citizenry, first, more terrible things are bound to happen. And the ‘humanitarian’ concerns that many of the bleeding hearts seem to be touting, with regard to those overseas, may just end up hitting very close to home. And if that happens, it will be very tragic for us all – and also tragic will be the fact that our leaders, claiming to be concerned about ‘freedom’ and security for many people, will have turned their backs on the people who are supposed to have mattered to them most.
The mass media (and Aakash) bewail the numbers of troops dying (in various ways: less than half the deaths are from combat or explosions). Any death is tragic, but in a country where the troops are sometimes deliberately targeted the death toll since May 1 is less than the city of Washington DC. Someone pointed out that a soldier from DC was 1/3 less likely to die on Iraq than in his home city.
As to “if they are there, they are not defending our country”, I’m not sure it is worth responding at all, but I do wonder if he thinks that was true of WWI and WWII. We are in a war, and unfortunately it is really just starting (on our side: decades or more old on the other).