A milestone, of a sort, has been reached: The US has been in Iraq longer than it was in World War II.
Personally, I think it’s only a milestone worth mentioning because the right wing used World War II as a propaganda tool, insinuating that WWII was the bar by which the current war should be measured, over and over again. Of course, they did absolutely nothing to actually unite the nation… but that’s another story.
The reaction from the right is as one would expect. Moronic. Shorter Red State: The Iraq War isn’t as bad as WWII because not as many soldiers have died. Which is true, but then World War II was the deadliest war in history. Over 200,000 US soldiers died in combat in that conflict, of over 2.5 million who saw combat, of a 15 million total in the US armed forces at that time. A total of 400,000 US soldiers died during WWII, from combat, accidents and associated. Nearly 25 million soldiers worldwide died. 62 million people total, soldiers and cvivilans, died by that conflicts end.
So, comparing the US deaths during the Iraq War, a barely 130,000 man combat force, with those of WWII, a 2.5 million combat force, is statistically a fool’s game. One which the folks at Red State are well equipped to play, and play well! Keep up the good work! Wankers.
Oliver Willis has a more nuanced view in “The Folly of Iraq”.
