On "Magic" Numbers

My car passed a mileage milestone today; 5,251 miles. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t get excited when my odometer slips pass a “magic” number such as 100,000 (in part because I don’t keep a car that long). I never understood the excitement about these zero-oriented numbers because every mile is a milestone in its own way. My car will only pass 10,000 miles once, but it will also only pass 5,251 miles once too.

And the relevance of mentioning this today is because many were at the ready to announce U.S. military deaths in Iraq has surpassed 2,000. For some reason, the headline in the Sacramento Bee-Minus yells “Iraq Deaths Surpass 2,000.” Someone please tell me the difference between 1,999 and 2,000. Why is it any more important that another person dies to make it a nice, round number? Isn’t 1,888 a nice round number too? I’m sure the family of the 999th person to die in combat in Iraq isn’t cursing the fact that their son or daughter didn’t have the forethought to wait a few more days to be the 1,000th. In war, a death is death and always tragic and always sad.

If we want to get technical, we can argue about the number. We’re the 2,000 killed all in combat or were some from accidents? There have also been some killed from friendly fire and some killed when one GI decided to murder another GI. Are they counted? And who was the 2,000th, since I think we are actually at 2,003 as five were killed in one day? If we’re going to make a big deal about these roll-over numbers, we have to have some rules, don’t we?

Well, here is how some people are celebrating this news, apart from the Bee that is always too ready to kick the Administration in the shins: Cindy Sheehan has decided to chain herself to the White House. MoveOn.org has put out an ad that asks, “How many more have to die in vain?” and then with incongruous Chutzpah that can only come from the left, announces candlelight vigils in numerous cities for our fallen soldiers. Editorials in numerous papers – likely written at or about the time 1,883 soldiers were killed – have all somberly written about this sad milestone as if there was any significant difference between today and yesterday. It makes one feel sorry about the next death as that poor bastard is going to be ignored by everyone.

If you’re playing for the Al Qaeda team or you’ve just sent away for your junior strap-on bomb making kit from your uncle who runs Hezbollah, the attention paid to the Big Round Number must warm the cockles. If Cindy Sheehan wasn’t starting to look more and more like Dorian Gray she could be a poster child for terrorist recruitment. The fact is that our free press and free speech laws – something that doesn’t exist in any Islamic country – have been very helpful to terrorists and their goals. They know that if enough Americans believe what Mama Sheehan and MoveOn.org believes, there will be enough public pressure to pull all of our troops out of all “occupied Arab lands.” Anyone who doesn’t see a pullout as a victory for terrorism and a demonstration of weakness to an enemy that has preyed on our past weaknesses just doesn’t know what we’re dealing with.

But I do have a solution for Ms. Sheehan who has to be somewhat miffed that Katrina took her off the front pages. I say let her stay chained to the White House. People can walk by and tell her what they think of her; both good and bad. Perhaps, if one had the inclination and happened to be carrying face paint around DC, passersby could paint her face with clown features or make their own statement on her forehead. There used to be a day we chained people in the town square as punishment and upstanding members of the community would offer friendly comments on proper decorum for their citizens’ behavior. Mother Sheehan is indeed an inspiration to bring back those days. Wait, we don’t have to bring them back, she just needs to chain herself to a different venue as this is a common form of punishment in Islamic states!

And I guess that’s where all this debate gets a bit confusing for me. Sheehan and her friends feign sorrow over the loss of lives but help create a situation that will prolong our involvement in the region, leaving more to die as Jane Fonda did by offering comfort to the NVA in 1966. To make it more puzzling, by publicly denouncing U.S. military policy, they de facto place themselves in the camp of the people who are not only killing soldiers like Sheehan’s son, but their belief system wouldn’t stand for a second the kind of camera hogging that Sheehan has indulged in.

Those who know me understand that I am all for public debate. I think it is what has made this country special and plays an important role as a check and balance to our elected officials. Just the same, free speech carries responsibilities for the speakers. If you don’t agree, let’s have a loud debate about fires in a crowded theater.