Memorial Day 2007: Fathoming 3463 U.S. fatalities in Iraq.

UPDATE AGAIN: Double click on the chart. It shows the total number of U.S. Fatalities over the 4 years. Each data point is a full year and as you can see the trend is very alarming with nearly 1000 deaths this past year alone. Trying to make the war more personal to me, I wanted to see how many of our brave young men and women have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The photo above was taken from an archive photo of Arlington National Cemetery. I counted every headstone and there are 131 in this picture. To get an idea of how many soldiers have died to date, multiply this picture 26 times and you are still short a few. This is unbelievable. On this Memorial Day remember those who gave their lives in service to their country, even though their leader could have avoided this war. It's not too late to admit a mistake and save some lives. I watched CBS 60 Minutes last night and it was so sad to see the disappointment of the families at home when they were told their loved ones had an extension of 120 days and could not come home as promised, because President Bush extended their tour of "duty". We have a duty to our soldiers too. Stand up and be counted on this Memorial Day and every day hereafter. The war must come to an end. Bring Home the Troops!

There are 112 soldiers dead and 116 seriously wounded so far this month. There are also 4 contractors dead who are Filipino and many countless Iraqis.

U.S. Fatalities in Iraq: An overview

Above is a chart (double click on it for easier viewing) of all US Fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan from June 2003 to May month to date, 2007. As you can see the chart is not flat nor heading down but instead is going up significantly. Many say you can't tell on a monthly basis whether things are getting better for our military in Iraq. But I think the data is clear from taking a longer view of 4 years. This is the real "surge" not mentioned by President Bush.

I post this today because the Senate is poised to pass the War Funding bill without any date for ending the hostilities and bringing our troops home. The Bill, if passed, will be funding more of our soldiers dying. As we approach Memorial Day weekend, let's have the courage as a country to make the tough decision to bring the troops home. If it were your son or daughter there, wouldn't you want someone to vote to bring them home?