Worthy

SondraK is asking for opinions regarding the 1000 deaths in Iraq.

Now, I gave my opinion, and I'm going to give it here. We've already had the Left jumping all over that number. The morlocks at DU are gloating and dancing over the deaths of soldiers. The Democrats want to use those deaths as a club against Bush. And it seems that everybody is asking the wrong damn question.

The question cannot, should not, and in my mind will never be "How many is too much"? The Left wants to play a numbers game, it seems. "How many people have to die? How many lives must be lost?" And as the number grows larger, they'll continue hammering away, trying to drive doubt into the minds of America. Remember, the Left's ultimate goal is the total and complete capitulation of America to their wishes, and anything that might help them to that end is fair game. Those military deaths are just another tool to them, another thing for them to use.

But the question should never be "How many", the question should always be "Was it worth it".

Thousands died during Operation Overlord on D-Day in WWII. America lost so many men that day that the beaches of Normandy were literally covered with blood. The ocean ran red, in every sense, from the blood that Americans and British and Canadians shed. We lost more on that day than we have in the entire Iraqi campaign. Was it worth it? I can't find a single person outside of the Neo-Nazi skinheads who say "no". To a man, everyone of sound mind agrees, yes, it was worth it. No price was too high to smash Hitler's tyranny.

We lost more thousands in the Korean War, stopping the communists in their tracks. Was it worth it? Ask, and the majority of people will say "Yes". No price was too high in order to keep Kim Il Sung contained, and allowing freedom to prosper below the DMZ.

The end results of this current war remain to be seen, it's still in progress. But if you were to ask those people who until last year were held in Saddam's rape rooms, I think they would tell you it was worth it. Those 1000 brave men and women gave their lives so that Kurdish children wouldn't have to worry about their entire village being gassed. Those 1000 brave men and woman gave their lives so that a major supporter of international terrorism was removed. We have removed a genocidal, terrorist supporting dictator. We have freed millions upon millions of people from under Saddam's thumb, and we have begun a process in the Middle East that will radically change the world in the future.

I think by any objective standard, it's worth it. Soldiers fear dying, yes, but dying is only the soldier's SECOND worst fear. Do you want to know what the first is?

The soldier's worst fear is dying for NOTHING.

You know, as a soldier, that you may be called into combat. The realities of life and death are pretty much burned into your head from Day One. As a soldier, you understand that should you go into combat, you could die. That is just a simple fact about the Army. Death, even in peacetime, is a constant shadow hovering over your shoulder. Training accidents happen. For a while, the Marines had lost more troops to accidents in the V-22 Osprey than they had to combat. Accepting hazards is part of the military.

But to die, and have your sacrifice made worthless? To have any value of what you did yanked away by self-serving politicians? That's worse than death. Many people can accept the risks, the eventuality of death, but not if it's only for cheap political gain. People can be willing to put their lives in harm's way for great things, but if you cheapen what they do, you have cheapened what they give. And that is worse than death.

It's up to us to ensure that these brave few have NOT died in vain. There is still more to do on the international front. Iraq still has insurgents coming into the country from Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Gaza Strip. Our work is not even half finished. But if those soldier's deaths are to take on meaning, we must push forward.

Don't dishonor them. Grieve for them. You can be sorrowful, yet resolute. You can cry, and yet push forward. You can remember them, and look to the future.

It's not the number, it's the meaning. Don't let those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines die for nothing.

Give their deaths meaning.

UPDATE: On Sondra's thread, commenter "sjmld" made this statement:

"Even discussing an arbitrary limit to how many lives we consider "too much" gives our enemy a goal to shoot for. Do not forget we are as dust to them, infidels. They will not yield until vanquished. Let's not defeat ourselves.
I do not want to fight, or die. But fight I will, and make the enemy die."

He's right, on both counts.