2,000

Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander, Jr., 34, of Killeen, Texas, died Saturday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, of wounds suffered Oct. 17, when a bomb exploded near his vehicle in the central Iraqi city of Samarra, the Defense Department said. He was the 2,000 member of the U.S. military to die in the Iraq war.

There are many things one might do to stop and remember those who have died. This video (play it where you can listen to the music) speaks to me, loudly. Cindy Sheehan says that she will tie herself to the White House fence "and refuse to leave until President Bush agrees to bring home the troops. Sheehan said she expects to be arrested. But she promised to return to the fence again as soon as she gets out. "

Yes, as an Army spokesman said it is an "artificial mark on the wall" but so is every death, needless pointless death. The LA Times today has analyzed the deaths and finds "the death toll of American troops has continued to rise inexorably, eroding support for the war and for the president who is so closely associated with it. The steady rise in deaths over the last 18 months, despite proclaimed political milestones and the strategies that U.S. military officials have employed to combat the insurgency, is among the most striking findings of a Times analysis of the fatalities." Let's hope that no more are required for us to stop the madness.

And may the 2,000 as well as the more than 100,000 Iraqui dead all rest in peace. As Tiny Tim said, God bless us every one.