We Got Ourselves a Real War in Iraq
by James Glaser
May 15, 2007

I know George Bush, Dick Cheney, and a lot of Republican members in Congress would have us believe that things are getting better in Iraq. Sunday, John McCain was once again claiming that the streets were safer in Baghdad now, and that he never asked for the platoons of infantry and attack helicopters who guarded him on his last trip there.

The truth is that since the 1st of the year, American combat troops have been in the thick of things. On the average day in Iraq, 19 Americans are wounded, and 3 are killed. That would be day in and day out. So far this year, 398 of our troops have been killed, and 2,496 have been wounded.

Believe it or not, it is a pretty big battle when over twenty of your troops are killed or wounded, and we are suffering those losses every day. Iraq isn't that big of a country and our troops see the body bags, they see and hear the medivac choppers heading out and coming back with wounded every day.

We know the stress level is right up there for our troops, and every time we extend their stay in the combat zone, their odds of getting hurt go way up.

So, next time somebody from Washington says things are getting better or that the "surge" is working, remember that another twenty some Americans took a hit that day.

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