Letter to the editor

General Tommy Franks, in a recent speech, implied, no, stated, that the loss of American troops in Irag, regardless of the number, was justified because they died "protecting our constitution". I must be pretty naive, because I never realized that our constitution was at risk in Iraq, or for that matter, anywhere else. After all, it was we who invaded Iraq, not the other way around. Franks praised Donald Rumsfeld and down-played the generals who criticized his leadership and competence. Regardless of which position ones takes in the war, it's hard to imagine any American citizen dismissing the loss of American service people in that sorry place as "justifiable" when our reason for being there in the first place has become increasingly subject to doubt and justification. General Franks said it wasn't important if the number of troops lost was 2400 or 240,000 as long as they died protecting our constitution in the war on terror. This is the kind of mind set that prompts politicians and generals to smugly make comparisons of lives lost in Iraq with the number of lives lost in Vietnam and other wars as if that was something to crow about, the causes and justifications not withstanding. We are becoming hardened by the continuous onslaught of violence and killing throughout the world and there seems to be no end in sight. When, we have to wonder, will the peacemakers emerge?

Maybe next year.

George Morin
Auburn, GA