Iraq Casualties to date...

I happened on a late rerun (really late 2:30 AM on the Pacific) of Lehrer News Hour during which it was mentioned the US casualty rate is now 797 and the deaths for this month is 56.

I checked Lunaville.org
which showed the same figures.

The close of the Lehrer News Hour was 14 names.

A bit more to follow...

Nicholas Berg's father, Michael has a column in The Guardian, a desperately sad thing, what else could it be, but with these lines:

[D]onald Rumsfeld said that he took responsibility for the sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners. How could he take that responsibility when there was no consequence? Nick took the consequences.

Even more than those murderers who took my son's life, I can't stand those who sit and make policies to end lives and break the lives of the still living. [snip]

And closes with words for peace:

We, the people of this world, now need to act on our beliefs. We need to let the evildoers on both sides of the Atlantic know that we are fed up with war. We are fed up with the killing and bombing and maiming of innocent people. We are fed up with the lies. Yes, we are fed up with the suicide bombers, and with the failure of the Israelis and Palestinians to find a way to stop killing each other. We are fed up with negotiations and peace conferences that are entered into on both sides with preset conditions that preclude the outcome of peace. We want world peace now.

It is saddest of all when the calls come, as they have all my life, and forever, from those who have lost their children.

We learned nothing in Viet Nam, nothing, ... In fact I had to hear that horrible man, Duncan Hunter say yesterday that we won in Vietnam, as he slavered over battles I remember.  Khe Sanh and Wey City.

I answered myself long ago, but when I was very young I wondered for how long a nation will steal the seetness of its youth.  Of course the answer is, forever.