Today, I ask that we not only remember to be thankful for our blessings, that we not only remember to give our thoughts to our young men and women fightly bravely in Iraq, but that we also remember the true victims of the crisis in Iraq, the civilian population.
On this day of thanks, I sat down to dinner with my family and engaged in our normal lively discussion of the world. I had just heard about how more than 3,000 Iraqi's were killed last month and nearly 150 were killed today alone. I realize that as Americans, we're very close to the number of troops who are over there, but I feel that we're neglecting to understand the profound impact that this war has had on the birthplace of modern civilization. According to a recent survey, which Bush does not deem credible, nearly 655,000 deaths have been caused by the ongoing crisis in Iraq. Bush might not deem this credible, but I've heard that the methodology the researchers used is accepted as valid. Moreoever, they believe that 655,000 is on the low end of the possible range.
The point of this diary isn't to demand a US troop pullout, it's not to criticize the justification of the war, it's to remind us all of the tremendous human impact that we all sometimes forget while we're praying for our sons and daughters.
Please President Bush, no more double talk. No more political games. Deal with the truth of the war over there. Humanity itself is paying far to great a price for your failure.