2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 4/2/07 Section: Op-Ed
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To the Editor:
I feel compelled to correct a couple of points made by your staff writer Hannah Baylor in her March 26 op-ed.
As of the date of her letter, the coalition has lost 3,500 troops in the region- over a thousand more than your writer's stated figure. Casualties crept over the 2,400 mark in Dec. 2005/Jan. 2006, according to the authoritative www.icasualties.org website, which compiles data from the U.S. military and other official sources. This does not include coalition lives lost in Afghanistan. U.S. military casualties exceeded lives lost on 9/11 in the late summer of last year.
Her report that Iraqis are concerned about terrorists "entering their country from others like Assyria" overlooks the fact that there is in fact no longer any such country as Assyria. In this case, her information is more out-of-date than her year-old casualty figures- Assyria has not existed for more than 1,500 years, so it is difficult to see how terrorists are infiltrating into Iraq from this country, and in any case hard to understand even if there were such invaders, what our troops would have to fear from these doughty Bronze-Age warriors.
I am also left wondering about what Ms. Baylor means by her comments about the monetary costs of the war. She seems to imply that we have not yet spent enough money, since retribution has not yet come to pass for 9/11. It seems unlikely that any treasure squandered in Iraq will bring to justice the perpetrators of that terrible day, who we know now (and have known since the attacks) remain at liberty in and around Pakistan and Southern Afghanistan.
Ms. Baylor is also vague on the details of her source's affiliations and service. While Brig.-General Richard Merion does indeed have a military career that dates back to the 1950's, his most recent public involvements appears to be as a charter member of former senator Rick Santorum's "Veterans for Santorum" group from his 2006 election campaign, and as a vocal proponent of beach replenishment along Long Beach Island. It is unclear as to whether Merion has any current involvement or affiliation with the present military campaign, or is merely continuing his loyalty to Santorum's anti-Islamist, pro-Bush stances. Also, he appears to know a lot about sand.
I feel compelled to correct a couple of points made by your staff writer Hannah Baylor in her March 26 op-ed.
As of the date of her letter, the coalition has lost 3,500 troops in the region- over a thousand more than your writer's stated figure. Casualties crept over the 2,400 mark in Dec. 2005/Jan. 2006, according to the authoritative www.icasualties.org website, which compiles data from the U.S. military and other official sources. This does not include coalition lives lost in Afghanistan. U.S. military casualties exceeded lives lost on 9/11 in the late summer of last year.
Her report that Iraqis are concerned about terrorists "entering their country from others like Assyria" overlooks the fact that there is in fact no longer any such country as Assyria. In this case, her information is more out-of-date than her year-old casualty figures- Assyria has not existed for more than 1,500 years, so it is difficult to see how terrorists are infiltrating into Iraq from this country, and in any case hard to understand even if there were such invaders, what our troops would have to fear from these doughty Bronze-Age warriors.
I am also left wondering about what Ms. Baylor means by her comments about the monetary costs of the war. She seems to imply that we have not yet spent enough money, since retribution has not yet come to pass for 9/11. It seems unlikely that any treasure squandered in Iraq will bring to justice the perpetrators of that terrible day, who we know now (and have known since the attacks) remain at liberty in and around Pakistan and Southern Afghanistan.
Ms. Baylor is also vague on the details of her source's affiliations and service. While Brig.-General Richard Merion does indeed have a military career that dates back to the 1950's, his most recent public involvements appears to be as a charter member of former senator Rick Santorum's "Veterans for Santorum" group from his 2006 election campaign, and as a vocal proponent of beach replenishment along Long Beach Island. It is unclear as to whether Merion has any current involvement or affiliation with the present military campaign, or is merely continuing his loyalty to Santorum's anti-Islamist, pro-Bush stances. Also, he appears to know a lot about sand.
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