500 + 1

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That is the number this morning; 501 GI's lost in this war. That doesn't include the wounded.

Numbers are cold things when we look at them.

We need to put them in perspective.

What was the size of your high school graduating class? Does that make the number 501 seem more real?

It is the election year. We hear endless campaign speeches, endless promises, allegations, whatevers. I am not hearing how hopefuls would deal with this war, piece by piece, step by step, peace by peace.

I do not want to hear about a "secret plan" for peace. We have been there, done that. We need to get beyond the glitz and get to the plans to sort this all out. Who has what plan?

While the electoral process is set up in Iraq, people are dying; people are being injured; lives are being turned upside down on all sides.

I am all for the exploration of space; but we have this space to deal with now. We have a question to ask of ourselves; what will we take with us into space? What do we intend to do with space once we get there?

From CNN.com Three U.S. soldiers among 5 killed in Iraq blast American death toll rises to 500 since war began.

From the AP Press and the Times Picayune:

State-by-state breakdown of U.S. deaths in the Iraqi conflict.

American soldiers killed in action since World War II.

A Salute to Our Veterans.

From the Washington Post
and Daniel Williams Clerics Urge Shiites to Protest
Call for Iraqi Elections Carries Hint of Violence.

and Robin WrightU.N. Support Crucial in Iraq, U.S. Says
White House Plans To Appeal to Body To Send Envoys.

Faces of the Fallen.

We must look at these faces and demand answers from all the candidates. We owe those who served and gave their all that much. We owe those who served and are wounded that much.

" If not now, when?"

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