Dear Editor,
It amazes me how much the war in Iraq is similar to the Civil War, but yet so different at the same time. When the Civil War began, the majority of the Union and Confederacy were in favor of fighting for what they believed in. Towards the end of the war, everyone involved grew weary and tired of the fighting and casualties that had accumulated.
The majority of Americans supported President Bush when he declared war on Iraq because we wanted revenge on the terrorists who had killed many men, women, and children while trying to destroy our pride. Now the majority of Americans want our troops to be out of Iraq because they see the war as pointless – the Iraqis don’t want us there. Our soldiers are supposed to be fighting for our freedom, but it seems as if they are being killed by suicide bombers for no reason.
The casualties in the Civil War on either side far outweigh the amount of casualties of U.S. soldiers in the Iraq War. Over the span of four years, the Union’s death toll (including death by disease) was about 360,222 – which was about 14 percent of their army. The Confederacy’s loss was at about 258,000 but they had a smaller army.
Since the Iraq War began in March of 2003, we have lost approximately 4,041 soldiers. Disease is also not a big problem for us because of the technological advances, such as vaccinations and antibiotics. These wars are similar and yet different.
– Ashley Perkins

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