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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E. T. who wrote (23993)	11/6/2007 5:07:25 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

It may have been the deadliest year. OTOH the stats for the year as a whole ignore the beneficial recent trend. Also deadliest year doesn't necessarily mean worse year. If we are actually doing something to win, in order to prevent future "deadliest years", than the extra operations, even if they result in extra deaths, can be worth it. When deadliest year is automatically bad is when its deadliest because your losing.

To: E. T. who wrote (23993)	11/8/2007 1:33:50 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Hell No, We Won't Go Maxwell Klinger, Jamie Farr's character on "MAS*H," used to dress in women's clothing in an attempt to prove he was insane and gain a discharge from the Army. USA Today reports some American servicemen are doing just the opposite: Troops in Iraq and elsewhere have tried to avoid being pulled out of combat units by cheating on problem-solving tests that are used to spot traumatic brain-injury problems, military doctors say. . . . The tests, administered by medics in the field, are the military's primary means of uncovering subtle signs of brain injuries from exposure to blasts. Reports of cheating began surfacing in Iraq during the summer, says Col. Brian Eastridge, a trauma surgeon who supervises medical care in Iraq and Afghanistan from his office in Baghdad. Troops had obtained copies of an older version of the test and memorized key words used to gauge short-term memory, Jaffee says. Those who fail areas of the test undergo more sophisticated exams for diagnosing brain injury. If symptoms persist, soldiers are sent home. Lt. Col. Michael Jaffee of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center explains the cheaters' motives: "With highly motivated individuals, be they athletes, be they our servicemembers in harm's way, there is a motivation to stay with the unit and stay on the job or stay in the game." The military has come up with new versions of the test to thwart the cheaters, who had memorized the answers to the old test. And well it should, for cheating is not only dishonest but dangerous. Jaffee says soldiers who fight despite brain injuries risk being "exposed to a second concussion or mild traumatic brain injury. It could have more devastating effects not only on their health, but on the mission's success, or perhaps on the safety of the people on their patrol." Yet while the cheaters' actions are wrong, their determination is admirable. Their eagerness to serve their country in combat belies the liberal stereotype of soldiers as victims--a stereotype that might have had considerable truth in the era of conscription but that, like much of what passes for liberalism these days, has long been outdated. opinionjournal.com