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Article: The crucible: how the Iraq disaster is making the U.S. Army stronger.
- Article from:
- The Washington Monthly
- Article date:
- July 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Washington Monthly Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In late 1862, as he watched thousands of Union soldiers die during the bloody battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee said grimly: "It is well that war is so terrible--we should grow too fond of it." The war American forces are embroiled in today is perhaps less terrible, but in some ways it has cost us just as dearly.
Since September 11, the U.S. military has expended an enormous amount of spirit, blood, and treasure on battlefields halfway around the world. In Iraq and Afghanistan, 979 of our soldiers have been killed; and another 5,600 wounded. More than a quarter of a million young men and women have been exposed to the horrors of combat. The ...