There is no total for the dead so far from the Attack on America.
Some are already crying about how we should not over-react to the attack.
Over- React?
Let's put this in perspective.
The Bloodiest Day of the Civil War- Antietam (the battle between Confederate General Lee and the Union's McClellan near Sharpsburg, Maryland) saw roughly 23,000 dead from both sides. All of which were actually Americans. And American Soldiers at that.
Pearl Harbor. To which this attack has been compared, listed 2,409 American dead, and twenty-nine Japanese planes, as far as could be told.
American Dead from the Normandy Invasion, D-Day. About 5,000.
Once again, these were Military Personnel.
To compare this to attacks on common citizens....
Oklahoma City Bombing, the accursed Tim McVeigh's great idea, left 168 confirmed Civilian Dead.
The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing. Six dead. One thousand injured.
There is nothing any terrorist has done worldwide to compare this attack to...
As far as the number of dead, no single incident can compare to this.
As far as the number of injured in New York and DC.
No nightclub bombing, no attack at an Olympics, no car bomb. Nothing.
As far as monetary loss.
There is no way to calculate the cost of just the buildings. Not to mention their contents. It will take years before even good estimates can be made.
The two towers of the World Trade Center had millions of desks, computers, servers, copiers, and even vending machines. Add to that the other buildings of the complex. Besides the 110 story towers, the 47 story building at 7 World Trade Center, and the smaller Marriott Hotel at 3 WTC. Plus the three low-rise buildings around the base of the Towers. Then the damage to the surrounding buildings and facilities has to be taken into the accounting.
Damage to the Pentagon may be less extensive, but the disruption to the way the US Military works will be more far reaching. Centralized Command and Control may be a thing of the past now. The typewriters can be replaced. 300 experienced staff members will take longer. Peace of mind and confidence will never be.
Plus four airliners, and their baggage.
Also add into the figures the monetary loss felt nationwide. Aye, even World-Wide.
The talk that this opening shot in an actual war could very well plunge the World into a Recession is not overstating the effect of this act.
Those Egyptians and Palestinians that were dancing in the streets may well wonder what happened to their economy when tourist dollars and foreign aid dries up in their countries. The Taliban's 'feeling our pain' is nothing to the pain they will feel when pressure from the civilized world comes to bear on their few allies and their island nation in the middle of Asia finds itself wondering if you can make Islamic Stew from goat bones and rocks.
The US had always believed in Total War until the politicians got involved in Korea, which ended in an uneasy draw, and then the Disaster that was Vietnam, which ended in the US getting run out of the country with their collective tails between their legs.
Let's hope President W and his staff remember those lessons, and allow the Military and the US Intelligence Community and the Justice Agencies to do their jobs and 'go forth and kick ass'.
The only way to pay back the persons responsible for this attack is in kind. It is the only language they understand, and the only thing they will respect. Putting these people in jail, or even only using economic sanctions against their host countries simply will not work. No, it won't work.
To adapt a phrase used first during the Albigensian Crusade around 1200 AD and later made famous by the US Marines (when they still believed in such things and followed through)...
The Media Desk
http://themediadesk.com
[the preceding rampage does not reflect the views of anyone except the Media Desk]