Before we leave for good any comment about the number of American deaths in Iraq -- the much-cited 4,000 -- I thought I'd direct you to a U.S. fighting man's take on the hubbub surrounding the toll. It's an intensely personal view that is not so much a reflection on the larger number, as it is a sense of grieving over specific losses -- those of friends and comrades. He wrote an essay for Time.
Read it here.
War-Fighter asks for "understanding for the cost of this war"
You have linked to a very thoughtful and sobering essay. It shows that the real meaning of 4,000 dead is that each of those deaths multiply into a million+ individual personal tragedies. It also shows us that the fatality figure is beyond practical comprehension.
Readers' Corner's previous post was titled ""Grim milestone," yes, but hold the politics" and pointed out that all deaths should be a news item, not just the 4,000th. Nevertheless, here is a link to the story of that 4,000th American war-fighter to die in this war, Army SSGT Christopher Hake: http://agonist.org/bob_geiger/20080328/the_face_of_number_4_000_in_iraq. The article is in fact political in that it is critical of those who took us into this war. But how can one possibly separate the mounting deaths of young Americans from the politics that have directly led to these deaths?
White House Spokeswoman Perino assures the American people that the president mourns EACH loss. This article, although politically charged, blows that edict right out of the water: http://mediabloodhound.typepad.com/weblog/2008/03/this-is-a-presi.html.
The Lieutenant sums up "When you are evaluating the price of the war, weighing potential rewards versus cost in blood and treasure, I would ask you to consider what is worth the lives of three of your loved ones? Or eight? Or more? It would be a tragedy for my 8 and 3 to have died without us being able to complete our mission, but it maybe even more tragic for 8 and 3 to become anything higher."