Looks like Pinter is definitely planning to go out in style. The Guardian brings you coverage of his latest tyrade. You go girl!
There's some hope, at least that SOME Americans still use their noggin, as Members of Congress press Bush to stop under-counting the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the members point out, not to include many of the injured in casualty lists results in an innacurate and misleading perception of reality. Oh, wait, Messrs Bush and Cheney, isn't that the definition of psychosis?
Anyway, it's obvious to anybody with a basic grasp of these things that modern warfare, military kit, communications, science and medicine mean that the ratio of killed to injured in Afghanistan and Iraq is going to be very different to that of say, Vietnam, par example. On top of that, Iraq may well turn out to result in more deaths of Americans than even did Vietnam.
Basically, many, many more horrendously injured (inside and out) soldiers, non-combat servicemen and women and members of the various "support" arms will survive their injuries than would be the case had these military operations taken place thirty years ago. This is a veritable K1 of pain and it will lean heavily on American society and psyche for a long time to come. The long-term ramifications have yet to be considered, let alone understood, by all but a few of us cynics/realists.
This is before you even consider all the "enemy" casualties and all the innocents and non-combatants who are suffering.
Maybe you have noticed the effect of the Vietnam "experience" on American (un)consiousness? Factor in depleted uraniuam and, my friend, you have set the scene for a truly awful reality to settle upon the human race over the next many decades.
Mark my words.
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