on dying anonymously and in vain in Iraq....

[mike_c]

It occurred to me this evening that the right wing, and military families who support the war against Iraq, politicians, pundits, etc who oppose publicizing the names of men and women killed in Iraq are, in essence, supporting the position that Americans killed there should die anonymously. That they should not be remembered. That their deaths are an embarrassment.

What will they say when someone inevitably proposes something along the lines of the Vietnam war memorial-- a memorial bearing the names of those killed in vain in Iraq? Or even a simple mention of the fact of those deaths? If they want to sweep the whole misadventure under the rug so badly, who will eventually dishonor the memory of those who gave their lives for nothing?

[Erika]

1. How true. The right wing sites hide the numbers and names

of those who die in Iraq. They hide pictures of their coffins.

They treat our troops death as dirt under the rug. Sweep the dirt under the rug and forget it.

[Cabcere]

2. That is a very good question...

and one I don't have an answer for. I was wondering about an Iraq memorial the other night, after going into a deep depression and watching a video of the Statler Brothers performing "More Than a Name on a Wall" (because apparently, I hate myself and felt like crying my eyes out until 3:00 in the morning). I'm 21 and so I wasn't around for Vietnam, but it seems to me like the Iraq war is a sort of repeat of history. Where will our memorial be? And how many names will it hold, when all is said and done? :shrug: :cry: I've already lost one friend to this war, and that's one too many - although in my eyes, the first soldier killed was one too many. :cry: Why is it that the false patriots who make so much noise about "supporting our troops" are the ones who treat our men and women in uniform like crap when they come home - either by neglecting the surviving veterans, or by ignoring the dead? :shrug: I don't understand it.

[eleny]

3. Maybe it's time to start talking about creating one now

Or is there one already? If not, there could even be a traveling memorial with names added as they're released.

[unhappycamper]

4. Gold Star Families should have the right to NOT have their loved ones' names on exhibits.

IMO, it's their call. The Arlington West, Arlington East, and Eyes Wide Open exhibit do their best to honor these requests.

[mahmoud al_hazen]

5. An astute observation;

America will never hold Iraq militarily. But yet it can't be allowed to slip from America's grasp. A proverbial and entirely predictable tar-baby.