The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 11)

From a military perspective, we lost 138 of our brothers and sisters--- all of us did. Just ask the squad leaders, platoon commanders, commanding officers, and generals and admirals. Even the reservists.

The military costs are the human costs. That is what Memorial Day is all about. That is what keeping faith with ones brothers and sisters is all about -- what being a member of the U.S. military is all about.

p>I think Mr. Beston is referring to a statistical perspective; based on his thoughtful treatment of Memorial Day, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt on this one... br> -- Mark Stoffel br> Arlington, VA /p> p> Paul Beston replies: br> I think we are just quarreling about semantics. When I wrote "from a military perspective" I meant from a strategic, or to use Mr. Stoffel's term, a statistical standpoint. Most of us, going in, would consider 138 dead a miraculously low casualty count for the battle in Iraq, given what was entailed. None of which means we don't mourn those who were lost. But where death is concerned, we have to take solace wherever we can, in this case through the knowledge that things could have gone much worse. /p> p> UNDER THE BIG TRENT

topics:
Environment, Books, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, NATO