Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The Numbers


The Numbers on October 25th.

From Mark Harris' PRELUDIUM: As of today, October 25, 2006, the number of American Armed Forces personnel killed in the Iraq war has exceeded the number of persons killed in the terror attack on the World Trade Center Towers. The number of persons in the Towers killed was 2,801. The number of military personnel killed in Iraq as of today is 2,804.

These numbers mean nothing by themselves. The numbing and stunning death of so many on that one day, and the death of the firefighters who tried to save them, stands as a single terrible event. The slow agonizing trickle of news of deaths in Iraq has taken years. Yet for everyone who knew of someone who died in New York that day, there are equally people who know of someone who has died in Iraq. The news is devastating either way.

The Administration argues that being at war in Iraq is somehow connected to the deaths of those in the Towers. If so then perhaps the occasion marking the time when we have put in harm’s way sufficient people to where their deaths equal the deaths in the Towers is an occasion for reflection.

Read Mark's reflections here -- and pray for the peace on earth the Prince of Peace came to create on earth as it is in heaven.

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