'Round the Bend

A sad milestone has passed since your last daily reminder, and one that no one in the media that I've seen even bothered to report: the 3000th dead coalition soldier. We are now only 21 deaths away from losing as many troops in Iraq as the total number of deaths in the event that set us upon this awful course: the September 11th terrorist attacks.

That means we should surpass that number at least before Thanksgiving, and possibly before the election.

There's nothing I can say that wasn't expressed decades ago, by the favorite poet of generation now ruling our government, talking about another ill-begotten war and another callous president:

"How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky
How many years must one man have
Before he can hear people cry
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?"
--Bob Dylan, "Blowing in the Wind"

Number of coalition troops killed in Iraq: 3009
Number of US troops wounded in Iraq: 9432
Total number of dead in September 11 terrorist attacks: 3030
Estimated number of Iraqi deaths: 43,937-48,783 (iraqbodycount.org)
650,000 (new Lancet study)

Time since US conflict in Iraq began: 1306 days
time since Osama bin Laden-coordinated 9/11 attacks: 1860 days
total time Osama bin Laden has spent in captivity: 0 days

percent of the time Chris Chocola votes with George W. Bush: 94%

time until Election Day: 22 days (Tuesday, November 7th)