The cost of Iraq is high and mounting

Near this anniversary day of the 9/11 bombing by no one person from Iraq, we look back on our invasion of Iraq, and the casualties on both sides of the conflict, and we reflect on what staying the course has cost us, not figuring in the monetary costs. Over 3,700 military casualties, not counting the thousands in military hospitals.

Recent press reports indicate that by using a non-lethal weapon developed over the past decade, our military leaders have repeatedly and urgently requested -- and were denied -- the device which uses energy beams instead of bullets and enables soldiers to break up unruly crowds without firing a shot. It is a ray gun that neither kills or maims; however, the Pentagon has refused to deploy it out of concern the weapon might be seen as a torture device.

Let us face reality with deployment now being recognized. There will be a familiar scene in Iraq for the next few years with crowds gathering, insurgents mingling with civilians. Troops will open fire, and civilians will die. It has been apparent we did not have an exit strategy when we invaded Iraq, and in looking to the future, let's stop the oratory from the political arena, but what we can do that will concern civilians as well as our troops in the daily mission in Iraq in the future?

O.C. "Bud" Grey

Arlington Heights