March 27, 2008

StreetTalk

by Carol Rosen

The fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War was last week. How many U.S. soldiers have been killed; how many Iraqis? How many U.S. soldiers will die before the war is over?
(Asked at the Almaden Community Center/Branch Library)

“Four thousand have died. Thousands more Iraqis, but I have no idea what the exact number is. I wonder if they even know. The American soldiers’ death tally depends on who is elected president.”

Linda Cole
Blossom Valley
Assistant culinary coordinator at Sur La Table


“Four thousand. I’ve seen that number someplace, but I can’t remember. I’m guessing 100,000. I hope the total number of U.S. soldiers killed won’t be double what it is now.”

Bonnie Home, 60ish
Almaden
Retired


“Four thousand, and about 10,000 Iraqis have died maybe. I’m not sure, maybe about 5,000 more soldiers.”

Yevgeniya Kushnerova, 35
Almaden
Homemaker


“Four thousand American soldiers. The number of Iraqis that have been killed is probably close to 50,000. It’s a difficult question because everyone has his own understanding of when the war will end; maybe about 5,000 more.”

Vitaliy Kushnerov, 37
Almaden
IT engineer


“The total just hit 4,000. I would guess about 90,000 to 100,000 Iraqis have been killed. I don’t know when the war is going to be over. I wish it would stop now."

Lloyda Thompson, 77
San Jose
Retired/coach computer classes


“A lot, I don’t know the exact amount. The number of Iraqis killed is in the thousands, probably 10,000-plus. I don’t want to guess how many of our soldiers will die, but more than need to.”

Tammy Wicks, 38
Almaden
Business applications analyst


“From what I read, 4,000 soldiers. I have no idea how many Iraqis have died. I don’t know how many American soldiers will die, I hope no more, but I’m sure there will be more.”

Ellen, 42
Almaden
Homemaker/former teacher


“Four thousand American soldiers have died. I’m not sure how many Iraqis have been killed, but I think a lot. I hope not too many more American soldiers will die.”

Melissa Riqueros, 49
Almaden
Almaden Property Management owner


“I think over 3,000 soldiers. I have no idea how many Iraqis. The total number of soldiers will depend on when the war is going to end, but the way it’s going now at least 3,000 to 4,000 more.”

Shadi Yousefi, 38
Almaden
Banker


“Four thousand U.S. soldiers and way more Iraqis than that. It’s hard to say how many American soldiers will die. I don’t know, but my cousin is serving over there in Baghdad.”

Jamie McChristian
San Jose
Acting recreation program specialist at the Almaden Community Center