The Toll - 8/5/07

Last week, the Department of Defense released the obituaries of 18 more military personnel killed in Iraq, ranging in age from 19 to 41.  Eleven (61%) of the fallen heroes were killed by improvised explosive devices.

According to the website www.icasualties.org, U.S. deaths in Iraq now stand at 3,669. The fact that the figure includes an unusually high number of 14, whose relatives are being notified today, suggest that our troops may have had a particularly bloody weekend.

The Department of Defense also released the obituaries of four military personnel killed in Afghanistan, ranging in age from 22 to 37.  Total U.S. deaths in that country were 354, as of July 28^th, according to the Pentagon.

The many categories of heroes associated with the conflict include, of course, the loved ones here at home, who live in fear each day, and dread every knock at their doors.

One of the casualty assistant officers, whose job it is to give the bad news to the next of kin, was Sgt. 1^st Class Greg Sutton, 38, of Lawton, Oklahoma, according to an article in Friday’s LA Times.

Greg’s wife, Joane, was well aware of her husband’s job requirements, so, when he, himself, was reassigned to Iraq, late last year, she began experiencing more than the normal level of daily fear.

She, as well as her husband, knew full well the devastating ritual that follows a military death, “the face at the door, twisted in agony before a word is said. The pained questions about the remains, so difficult to answer. The folded flag. The daunting stack of military paperwork. The numbed stare.”

But, as for her ability to prepare for the bad news, Joane was as helpless as any other spouse. So, when the dreaded knock did come to her door last month, she was as equally devastated to learn that she too had become a widow.

Greg’s job in Iraq was to serve with a unit of Iraqis, as a specialist, in calling in air support during combat operations.  Before leaving on what was to be his last patrol, he called his wife and told her to start planning for his forthcoming leave.  He wanted to take her and his four children to Sea World, in San Antonio.

A massive improvised explosive device, however, changed the family’s plans for all time.

Less than a week after receiving that last call, Joane was - against the protests of the casualty officer assigned to her case - viewing Greg’s remains.  His head was covered, according to the Times, but she could at least hold his hand one more time.

At the funeral, she and the children made sure the casket contained some stuffed animals and the Father’s Day drawings that they hadn’t mailed him yet.

In the normal course of our lives, it’s easy to forget the dread and anguish experienced every day by the loved ones left behind.  As truly as the soldiers they mourn, however, they are our heroes, in every sense of the word.

One of the most consistent observations made each week, while reading the obituaries, is that, while the names of officers do appear, the list of casualties is predominantly made up of privates, corporals, specialists and sergeants. This week is fairly typical, with but one officer included among the fallen in Iraq.

This leads to two comments. One, an observation, is that the situation is quite different from other wars we’ve been involved in, when Second Lieutenants, as a group, seemed to have one of the riskiest jobs. Even among the few officers that now become casualties, the appearance of a Second Lieutenant’s name is rare.

Obviously, the normal amount of officers are stationed in the theater, so the second comment, a conclusion, is that officers, as a group, are not being placed in high risk situations.

And, where this is all going, is the optimistic projection that, once we change our strategy of intentionally exposing the troops to risk, the casualties among all our troops could very well be minimal.

This rather slightly convoluted logic suggests a certain degree of control over the aggregate casualty exposure here, which, if true, may be significant.  Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno told the LA Times, last week, that American forces would be needed in the country for a few more years in order to stave off chaos.  And other analysts foresee a Korea-type, semi-permanent occupation.  It would be nice to know that such strategies could be implemented with minimal casualties, although, admittedly, it might be overly optimistic to draw that conclusion.

One projection that is definitely more certain, however, is that the financial burden imposed by the war will continue for quite some time.

Left unsaid by Lt. Gen. Odierno, and by most members of the Bush administration, these days, is the critical fact that the Iraqi government continues to show a complete lack of progress in being capable of running its country.

On Monday, the parliament started its month long recess, despite the fact that it had failed to pass any of the legislation that the U.S. Congress had designated as benchmarks in determining Iraq’s progress in overcoming its sectarian rivalries.

One of the benchmarks, the passage of the so-called oil law, was met with hostility and distrust from virtually every group represented in the government.

Meanwhile, suicide bombings and other atrocities continue to disrupt the difficult lives of the Iraqis.

According to an Associated Press report yesterday, Iraq’s electricity grid could collapse any day “because of insurgent sabotage, rising demand, fuel shortages, and provincial officials who are unplugging local power stations from the national system…”

And also,yesterday - a typical day - 21 bodies were found around the capital, victims of execution-style killings.