96 U.S. Soldiers Killed In October In Iraq

The month of October has turned out to be the deadliest month in nearly two years for U.S. soldiers. As of this date, 96 soldiers have been killed in Iraq this month. To find a worse month, you'd have to go back to January of 2005, when 107 U.S. soldiers were killed. But there's still several days left in October, and the death toll will probably rise. The month with the highest death toll was November of 2004, when 137 soldiers were killed.

But American deaths pale in comparison to Iraqi deaths. This month has seen an average of 41 Iraqis killed each day. Iraq had been averaging 27 deaths each day, although the U.N. said this number is far too low. The U.N. believes that at least 100 Iraqis die each day in this war.

This begs the question - exactly what are we accomplishing with our continued occupation of Iraq? If we're there to protect our puppet government, then our mission is useless. The present Iraqi government will fall the minute we leave. This is not the government Iraqis would choose for themselves - it's just the government we allow them to have.

If we're there to prevent sectarian violence and needless Iraqi deaths, then we are failing in our mission. In the current situation, we cannot even protect our own soldiers, let alone any Iraqi citizens.

There were no weapons of mass destruction, Saddam has been deposed, and we cannot protect the Iraqis from themselves. There is no legitimate reason for our soldiers to still be in Iraq. We need to stop making excuses and BRING THEM HOME!!!