Bush's (and Our) Iraq By The Numbers

The U.S. military announced Friday the deaths of four Marines and a soldier, bringing the number of American servicemen and women who have died in Iraq since the war began 2 1/2 years ago to 1,993.

Wisconsin military members killed: 46
Minesota military members killed: 25

Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press, Oct. 22, 2005
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Enlistments in Minnesota for the 12 months ending Sept. 31 were down 10 percent from the previous year. Recruiters in Minnesota signed up only about half the number of soldiers U.S. Army's Recruiting Command had sought.

Various reasons are cited for the decline. There is a climbing military death toll in Irag. There is Minnesota's low unemployment rate, which means enlistment-age men and women get jobs elsewhere. And there's the cold fact that many parents nowadays actively dissuade their children from joining the military.

Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press, Oct. 23, 2005
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In the Oct. 24, 2005 issue of The American Conseravation, Pat Buchanan has this to say about the numbers:


1. "Acording to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, 67 percent disapprove of how Bush is prosecuting the war. Only 32 percent approve. Three in five think America made a mistake going in. Close to two-thirds of the American people think we should start withdrawing troops now."

2. "By a CBS/New York Times poll, pnly 7 percent of the nation is willing to cut domestic spending to pay for this war, only 20 percent -- one in five -- is willing to raise taxes. A majority of Ameircans wish this was had never happened and would just go away."

3. "In that CBS/New York Times poll, 75 percent of Bush's countrymen said he has no plan. Yet he is president for the next 40 months."

Buchanan concluded his editorial with this: "Yes, we are all in this boat together, and it is taking on water."
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Cost of an ice cube tray: 85 cents. Price charged to Pentagon for an 85 cent ice cube tray: $20.

St. Pioneer Press, Oct. 23, 2005.