the high cost of freedom
First casualties of the Iraq War.
Six U.S. Marines and eight British Commandos have been killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Twelve of these fourteen - all the British and four of the Americans - died in a helicopter accident March 21st in Kuwait. Among those killed were Major Jay Aubin of Winslow, Maine. Aubin told his mother before he left for the Gulf that there was "a lot she didn't know [about the dangers of the Hussein regime]" and that he was eager to go.
Also killed were Texan Brian Kennedy - a corporal, Captain Ryan Beaupre of Illinois, and Staff Sargeant Kendall Watersbey of Maryland. Kennedy, Beaupre, and Watersbey were based at San Diego's Camp Pendelton. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld eulogized the Marines and Commandos, saying: "The world will be a safer place because of their dedicated service."
Additionally, two Marines have been killed in combat. Lieutenant Colonel Neal Peckham, the British miliary spokesman in Kuwait, stated that a member of the First Marine Expeditionary Force was fatally shot during the capture of the Rumeila oil fields. The second Marine was killed during the battle for the port of Umm Qasr.
Meanwhile, pro-freedom activists in Cuba have been rounded up and arrested by the Castro regime. Seventy-two dissidents were jailed this week including some of the most prominent opponents of Castro. Economist Martha Roque, journalist Raul Rivero, and Oswaldo Paya - organizer of the Varela Project and Sakharov Prize winner - are among those now awaiting trial.
Taking advanage of gradual political liberalization over the past several years, the Varela Project gathered 11000 signatures for a petition that was presented to the Cuban National Assembly in 2001. The petition demanded that Cubans' rights of freedom of association and expression be respected, and further requested free elections. The National Assembly has ignored the petition.
Six other Cubans, in a desperate act to flee to the United States, hijacked an Aerotaxi DC-3 earlier this week. The U.S. has announced it will prosecute the hijackers. While these men may untimately gain liberty, they'll have to wait at least a decade in federal prison. The Cuban passengers, however, have been offered asylum immediately if they wish it.
23.03.2003 © ljr