The number 2,000 in context

At dawn on September 17th, 1862 Union and Confederate forces met near the sleepy little Maryland town of Sharpsburg. By 5:30 that evening casualties from both sides totaled over 23,000. That’s nearly 2,100 casualties per hour. 8,000 men fell in the struggle for Miller’s cornfield alone. Rifle fire from both sides was so intense that not a single stalk of corn remained standing after about an hour. Union General Fighting Joe Hooker summarized it in his report with these words, "In the time I am writing, every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the [Confed.] slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before." Further south, Confederate reinforcements were pummeling Union forces at place called Dunker Church.

But that was just the start. At mid-day, troops under the command of General D.H. Hill held the Confederate center by occupying a sunken road. The natural defense helped Hill repulse several Union assaults over a four hour period. Union forces were finally able to break Hill’s defense by gaining a position from which to deliver a murderous enfilading fire onto the Confederate defenders. However, after pushing Hill from his defenses, the union forces were too exhausted to press their advantage. After the battle, the sunken road became known as Bloody Lane.

Late in the day at the Lower Antietam Bridge, located at the southern end of the battlefield, Union General Ambrose Burnside was impaling his forces against stubborn Confederates defending the bridge. This was later seen as a foolish maneuver, because Antietam creek was only waist deep to a man and could have been crossed with little effort at nearly any point. Burnside finally drove the Confederate defenders back and took “his” bridge. That caused Lee to withdraw his forces from the field at about 5:30 pm. The Lower Antietam Bridge is now known as Burnside’s Bridge.

So Lex, why the history lesson? Well, I’m angry about the MSM reveling in the fact that our casualties in Iraq have reached 2,000. I do not mind the references to the figure. I do mind the total lack of context. The MSM reports the number - fine – but it’s only to segue to Bush’s falling support in the polls. Even that is misreported in that Zogby has the president back UP to 45%. The 2,000 figure is used to segue to Cindy Sheehan and the anti-war non-movement. The 2,000 figure is then used to segue to Plamegate and the non-stop beating of the MSM meme, Bush lied, our kids died.

So what should the MSM be doing? Well, reporting the number is fine, although I’m not quite sure why 2,000 is different from 1,500; 1,999 or even 1. But that number needs to be reported in the context of what those lives have achieved:

- Deposing a megalomaniac as the head of state of country that dominates a region vital to our national security
- Exposing the oil food scam and the deceit of France and Germany
- Exposing countless mass grave sites
- Freeing 25 million people
- Establishing the first constitutionally elected democratic government in the region
- Establishing a military foothold in a country that borders Iran and Syria
- Establishing THE battleground for killing terrorist

The Battle of Antietam is known as the bloodiest single day of combat in American history. It is also, to this day, known as a decisive battle in that it defeated the heretofore invincible Robert E. Lee and pushed his Army of Northern Virginia out Union territory. It is also remembered as the Union victory that allowed Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. It was also the battle which convinced Lincoln to relieve General George B. McClellan as commander of Union forces. That move inspired McClellan to run against Lincoln in the 1864 election. Context is everything. 23,000 dead! Oh my we need to quit the war! That was a fashionable way of thinking 1862. Draft riots, political infighting and treachery that makes today’s Democrats look sane ensued. Through it all Lincoln stood firm.

2,000 dead. Report it if you must. But give it the context it deserves. Each one of those volunteers died for something greater than themselves. I just don’t know how to capture the essence of their sacrifice and we might not even know the full meaning of that sacrifice for 50 years. But we can be sure that they didn’t die for Bush’s poll numbers, Cindy Sheehan or Valerie Plame.