Two of the seven NY Times Op-Ed Soldiers have Died in Iraq (via DailyKos)

[HamdenRice]

You may recall that seven US soldiers penned an op-ed that was published in the NY Times, entitled, "The War as We Saw It." It contradicted much of the "good news" meme being peddled by the Bush administration.

DailyKos diarist Brandon Friedman reports that two of the seven soldier-authors, Yance T. Gray and Omar Mora, have died in Iraq. You may recall that one had been shot between the time the piece was written and the time it appeared in the Times, and is recovering:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/12/0926/28618

Two of the Seven NYT Op-Ed Soldiers Have Died in Iraq

by Brandon Friedman

Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 09:09:26 PM PDT

Two of the seven soldiers who wrote the New York Times op-ed piece criticizing U.S. counterinsurgency strategy 3 ½ weeks ago have been killed in Iraq. Yance T. Gray and Omar Mora died Monday in a vehicle accident in Baghdad. The AP has reported on Yance Gray here, and KHOU, a Houston-area TV station has reported on Omar Mora here. Their families have been notified.

I have confirmed through a source in Iraq that these are indeed the same soldiers who penned the op-ed piece.

I don’t know what else to say.

<end quote>

[TwilightGardener]

1. How very sad. Strange coincidence that they were talked about yesterday

in the Senate hearings.

[HamdenRice]

2. I hope this is not reflective of the survival rate of

a random sample of military personnel. But it may be indicative of the casualty rate of those soldiers who are the "tip of the spear," so to speak. If so, that's terrifying news.

Hopefully, it isn't indicative.

[TwilightGardener]

3. I can't believe that it is--the vast majority come out of Iraq alive and unharmed. I would

have expected these guys to make it, especially since one of them had already been seriously wounded--statistically, the chances of two others dying had to be kind of low. A random, but sad, occurrence.

[Karenina]

5. IIRC, none of the soldiers with Jessica Lynch

are alive today...

[Inuca]

4. This is incredibly sad

and so symbolic of this all awful and criminal mess.