Two NYT Op-Ed Soldiers Killed in Iraq
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James Joyner | Wednesday, September 12, 2007 |
Two of the soldiers who wrote last month’s controversial NYT op-ed arguing that the war in Iraq was lost have been killed in a tragic accident. E&P’s Greg Mitchell has the sad details:
The Op-Ed by seven active duty U.S. soldiers in Iraq questioning the war drew international attention just three weeks ago. Now two of the seven are dead.
Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance T. Gray died Monday in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad, two of seven U.S. troops killed in the incident which was reported just as Gen. David Petraeus was about to report to Congress on progress in the “surge.” The names have just been released.
[...]
The controversial Times column on Aug. 19 was called “The War As We Saw It,” and expressed skepticism about American gains in Iraq. “To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched,” the group wrote. It closed: “We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.”
Mora, 28, hailed from Texas City, Texas, and was a native of Ecuador, who had just become a U.S. citizen. He was due to leave Iraq in November and leaves behind a wife and daughter. Gray, 26, had lived in Ismay, Montana, and is also survived by a wife and infant daughter.
Horrible news.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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And, cue the conspiracy theorists, in 3...2...1...
Eric: '3...2...1...'? You've got to be kidding!
That's a hair-trigger response. It was launched before the 'th-' diphthong was uttered.
Well the shia, sunni, and AQI guys will have at least another six months to get the rest. Maybe they can keep score on which side killed the most realists while america critiques brittney's rack.
Dead... For what? And when will it end? 2 men who went to fight in a war they did not start and could not win, 2 men who showed more courage of conviction in their short lives than most of us ever dream to posess, first by going, than by speaking out against their "mission", a thing gauranteed to p*** off their superiors, and yet still trying to fulfill their obligations.
Dead...
Tlaloc, Tom: It was an accident.
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