WP 3/27 - Why Are Our Children Dying?

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28372-2004Mar26.html

'Why Are Our Children Dying?'

By Colbert I. King
Saturday, March 27, 2004; Page A19

Excerpt:

Ford's heartbreaking funeral service has been replicated more than 560 times across the country since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq a year ago. There are thousands more members of the U.S. armed forces who must now live out their years with broken bodies. And America, because of Iraq, will soon be $100 billion poorer. Irene Ford, Jason's stepmother, angrily asked the other day: "Why are our children dying? What is the reason for this young boy to lose his life?"

That critical question took a back seat to another drama in Washington this week.

The headlines told it all. They concerned White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke's charges that the Bush administration had failed to treat the al Qaeda threat as a priority before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Bush people angrily denied the accusations and set out to cut Clarke to shreds. Democrats, on the other hand, loved what Clarke had to say and couldn't get enough. And there you have it: Washington at its worst and best -- serving up the kind of political stuff that we in the press can feed off for days.