the buck stops here

"When these soldiers, sailors and airmen are buried, they're not buried as Republicans or Democrats. I care a hell of a lot more about them than I do about partisan politics."

— Congressman John Tanner, The Washington Post, September 13, 2007

lives in the balance | 1500 days + counting

Today marks 1,500 days since the declaration of Mission Accomplished in the war on Iraq.

U.S. armed forces have suffered 3,345 confirmed Post Combat Operations fatalities since that day.

The number of Iraqi deaths directly caused by the conflict lies somewhere between 65,000 and 650,00 — a number we're not likely to actually confirm for some time.

The number of Iraqi refugees in the conflict stands at four million, two hundred thousand.

Hubris, thy name is Rumsfeld
Hubris, thy name is Rice
Hubris, thy name is Cheney
Hubris, thy name is Bush
Hubris, thy name is Congress
Hubris, thy name is Us

a beautiful mind wasted in the West Wing

March 18, 2003

“Why should we hear about body bags and deaths, and how many, what day it’s going to happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it’s, it’s not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?”

— First Lady Barbara Bush telling Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer why she would not be watching televised coverage of the impending war

March 18, 2007

U.S. fatalities in Iraq reach 3217; Iraqi fatalities in excess of prewar death rates lie somewhere between 59,000 (IraqBodyCount.org) and 650,000 (British medical journal The Lancet — free registration required).