Private Luis A. Moreno

I don't know how many people are aware of this site. It's called the 'Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count', and, well, it does exactly what it says on the homepage. It gives detailed analysis of the numbers of "Allied" soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq.

It's a useful tool for those trying to gain an insight into the ups and down of the resistance's activities.

As it stands, there have been 2269 American soldiers killed (a further 16653 have been wounded) and 101 British soldiers. The site, amongst other things, gives details of where in America the Dead Soldiers came from. Unsurprisingly, California has seen the heaviest losses, with some 236 Californians being killed.

Looking at the long list of names, I began to wonder.

Private 1st Class Luis A. Moreno, aged 19, hailing from the Bronx, NY, died on 24th January 2004. I wondered why he signed up. How many Iraqis had he killed. But most importantly, I wondered what he had to gain from the expansion of Empire. What had the people of the Bronx, many of them poor or unemployed, to gain from an increase in the profits of Halliburton?

What did Private Moreno mean to the people who sent him there? A young latino from the Bronx? Expendable.

He died "defending" a gas station in Bagdhad, a cruel irony.

Private Moreno was a victim of Forces he didn't understand. His body, his whole being, had been merely a vessel for powerul interests.

As he lay there, dying of his injuries in a British hospital , I wonder what thoughts and images passed through his mind. Regret? Probably. Pain? Yes. Fear? Definetly. The best moments and happiest moments of his 19 yeard old life? Hopefully.

He died for blood soaked bastards for whom his death, and thousands of others, was merely a means to their ends.