The Northerner

Issue date: 9/6/06 Section: Viewpoints

A U.S. soldier stands guard at the site of a car bomb explosion, in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday Aug.24, 2006. At least 14 Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday in separate bombings and shootings, the latest casualties in the country's ongoing sectarian and political violence, officials said.(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

This Labor Day weekend was filled with several interesting numbers. The Toyota WEBN Fireworks that rocked the otherwise tranquil Sunday evening celebrates not only an extra day away from the grueling nine-to-five, but the show's 30th anniversary as well. Labor Day is even older, having given the average Joe an annual break from the grindstone for 124 years.

But other, more solemn, numbers appeared this holiday weekend. CNN reported Sept. 3 that the number of American troops killed in the War in Iraq and the War on Terror reached 2,974, officially surpassing the number killed in the terrorist attack of Sept 11, 2001.

Of those 2,974, 329 are Americans who have died in Operation Enduring Freedom since October 2001, mostly in Afghanistan.

However, the remaining 2,645 of America's fallen sons and daughters were lost in that chaotic maelstrom of a country, Iraq. Not surprisingly, Americans don't like Americans dying. In a poll Sept. 4 from CNN, 35 percent of Americans favored the Iraq War. Sixty-one percent oppose the war, the highest figure in any CNN Iraq poll.

Two-thirds of Americans don't like the war in Iraq, and I can't say I blame them. Especially considering those 2,645 deaths are only part of the story. Nearly 20,000 Americans have suffered injuries in Iraq, with almost 9,000 not returning to duty.

Obviously, this conflict has touched many families. One needs only to look locally to find those who have lost loved ones to the Iraq War.

Matthew Maupin's family can speak on how the war can change lives, as can the families of Lance Cpl. Brett Wightman, Lance Cpl. Timothy Bell Jr. and so many others. The tri-state region has experienced the harsh costs of going to war as its own soldiers have given so much, in some cases everything, to the war.

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