The Cost of Escalation

Fallen youth at Arlington National Cemetery.

By Dana Goldstein

Last night, President Bush appeared before the nation to announce an escalation of the war in Iraq. The wrongheaded and tragic policy of deploying an additional 22,000 active duty troops has been widely referred to as a “surge,” which implies a temporary change in policy. But what Bush has outlined is an escalation—yet another open-ended, naively optimistic, and foolishly narrow-minded strategy, when what is required is a firm time-line for the United States’ commitment of troops, as well as a shift from a mostly military strategy to a new focus on negotiations among Iraqi factions and diplomacy in the region. That is the approach favored by the Iraq Study Group, numerous veterans and active duty soldiers and officers, and—perhaps most significantly—the American people, who just two months ago elected a new Congress in large part because a full 72 percent of the public now opposes the war in Iraq.

To assume, as Bush stated last night, that an additional 22,000 troops will “secure Baghdad” by “clear[ing] neighborhoods of terrorists and insurgents” is to ignore the now almost universally-acknowledged truth that Iraq has spiraled into civil war conditions in which it is practically impossible for American soldiers to distinguish between friend and foe. The fear and death that define life in Iraq is the work not of a small, contained group of “pro-Saddam” insurgents, but the result of widespread violence caused by sectarian strife and opposition to the American occupation—an opposition that is sure to grow along with the increased military presence Bush proposes.

Beautiful ocean waves surge. Intractable conflicts escalate.

This photo essay portrays the cost of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy—a cost that will only grow dearer under the President’s escalation plan. Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia houses the freshest-dug graves of Iraq war veterans, some as young as 18-years old. Some graves, only a few days or weeks old, are temporarily marked until headstones are erected. Inside a visitor’s center, a memorial to Iraq veterans depicts photographs, paintings, drawings, and notes from loved ones. The names of the dead demonstrate the diversity and strength of America. They are a stark reminder of the dedicated young people who have paid the ultimate price for this ill-conceived, incompetently-pursued, needlessly-prolonged war.

Click any thumbnail to view a larger version. Information on the fallen soldiers is provided by ArlingtonCemetery.net.

Related Stories

• Gender-Neutral Housing Comes to Princeton
• Campaign Communications Director, Repower America
• Toke Up Marijuana Laws
• Send a Health Care E-Card
• The Battle for Pittsburgh