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October 16, 2002

Lautenberg Puts War in Perspective

Watch the chickenhawks to be outraged by this statement by Lautenberg. Responding in a debate with Forrester, who denigrated his sponsorship of an airline ban on smoking in the context of more important security issues:

A defiant Lautenberg fired back, saying anti-smoking legislation matters a lot to the 400,000 people who die from related diseases each year; far more, he said, than the 58,000 soldiers who died in the Vietnam War. Lautenberg, who volunteered for World War II service, spotlighted the fact Forrester received a draft card but was not called to serve in Vietnam.

Good for Lautenberg. I've argued in the past (see this column) that war deaths pale in comparison to the deaths from disease and other threats-- an issue often lost in the hysteria of post911 focus on war.

Posted by Nathan at October 16, 2002 11:34 AM

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