Native soldiers die in vain

Tim Giago:  How many others will die over Iraq?The chart of those who died in Iraq places South Dakota second in the number of deaths in combat per capita. Vermont leads the list. Three Lakota have died in Iraq. The first woman to die there was a Hopi Indian woman from Arizona. Among the dead you will find several Navajo Indians and several from the Indian nations of Oklahoma. The people of Indian country have always considered themselves one, so this brings the war a little closer for all of us.

Nineteen young Americans lost their lives to this futility only last week. Sunday, a one-year anniversary memorial service was held at Kyle on the Pine Ridge Reservation for a young Lakota Marine named Brett Lundstrom who lost his life to a sniper in Iraq. Brett was young and did not consider the politics or the sectarianism of the fighting in Iraq. He was a warrior sent to Iraq to bring a new democracy to a country that did not want it. Did he die in vain? We would hope that a life lost in a cause, whether it is noble or ignoble, is not a death to be disrespected. After all, the intent of the soldier or marine sent into combat is to carry out the orders of the president of the United States of America. If the orders are wrongful, it is not the fault of the soldier.Comment:  If the orders are wrongful enough, it's a soldier's duty to disobey them. The Nuremberg Trials established that principle pretty well.

It's not our soldiers' fault if Bush sent them to their deaths. But since we can't "win" in Iraq, they are dying in vain.