because we can't forget we're THERE too

they saw the russians leave and they'll see us leave as well. we make GIANT tactical mistakes. we didn't understand the vietnamese very well. we do NOT understand the iraqis AT ALL nor do we understand the people of afghanistan AT ALL either. i'm not a warrior. i know enough to UNDERSTAND one's 'enemy'. the picture (from wapo) features a 23 year old marine. it casually mentions he's had THREE tours. wtf???????????????? 23 years old and 3 tours of duty? what's wrong with THAT picture? (oh and thank you to all those who have served. any time. any where. i was never mad at you. i was and am mad at the decisions made by men in suits and ties sitting in comfy chairs)
U.S. Deaths Hit A Record High In Afghanistan
Toll of 31 So Far in July Makes For Deadliest Month of the War

By Ann Scott Tyson and Greg Jaffe

Washington Post Staff Writers
GARMSIR, Afghanistan, July 21 -- U.S. deaths in Afghanistan have surged to a record high this month and are likely to remain elevated as American and NATO forces settle into outposts in southern Afghan villages and cities where Taliban forces have traditionally been the strongest.

The rising death toll comes as the country prepares for a presidential election next month, and could erode U.S. public support for a war that is already among the longest in U.S. history.

"This is probably the new normal," said Seth G. Jones, an analyst for the Rand Corp. and author of a new book on the U.S. military's nearly eight-year-old war in Afghanistan. "I'd actually be shocked if casualties didn't continue to increase."......

pic: Marine Cpl. Cory Mathis, 23, of Elkton, Md., relaxed with comrades recently in the Helmand River after nine days of missions in southern Afghanistan. The tattoo on his back, he says, "is a memorial to all the fallen Marines I've served with in my three deployments." (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)