Fry Our Troops

At least 12 U.S. service members have died in Iraq, not from battle wounds, or explosions, or even from friendly fire like Pat Tillman. They died of electrocution. Army Times quoted Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA):

“When Staff Sergeant Maseth stepped into the shower and turned on the water, an electrical short in the pump sent an electrical current through the water pipes to the metal shower hose, and then through Staff Sergeant Maseth’s arm to his heart,” Waxman said.

The Boston Globe says that KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, "subcontracted to Iraqi firms with unskilled workers earning a few dollars a day." Because Vice President Cheney's former firm wanted to make exorbitant profits by supplying war materiel on the cheap, a dozen men and women died horrible deaths.

Before we go sending more troops to war, in Afghanistan, in Iran (God forbid yet another war of choice!), or anywhere else, we must ask ourselves: Are we willing to see our young men and women die in agony like Ryan Maseth? Because that is what it means to send them to war.