Tom,

I report these figures here daily to remind everyone about the cost of this misbegotten war. I realize its not pleasant for you to read these ever increasing casualty tolls. But its about as simple and straightforward a statement that anyone can make. There's no "sin" in simply stating the facts.

I have no doubt there is progress being made in Iraq. One dearly hopes the Iraqis can craft a fair and effective constitution that helps the country find stability. But that's not the point. The point is 1,873 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. That's a raw fact. You can make sense of it in whatever way you choose.

For me, these deaths were completely unnecessary. We had no business or national interest in starting a war in Iraq. Its been a waste of human life and hundreds of billions of dollars. If we can salvage a constitutional democracy out of this debacle, that's great. But that still doesn't justify the awful act of starting this war in the first place.

Donald