Our national shame

That's right, it's not just the President and his administration's war. It's also your Congress' war, your military's war and that means your and my war.

In a sequel to its 2004 study, Johns Hopkins has determined that the Iraqi death toll from our war is estimated at 655,000.

The epidemiological study used the same reliable methodology as public health studies that are used to determine deaths from famines and natural disasters.

From the Washington Post:

While acknowledging that the estimate is large, the researchers believe it is sound for numerous reasons. The recent survey got the same estimate for immediate post-invasion deaths as the early survey, which gives the researchers confidence in the methods. The great majority of deaths were also substantiated by death certificates.

. . .

Ronald Waldman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University who worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for many years, called the survey method "tried and true," and added that "this is the best estimate of mortality we have."

This viewed was echoed by Sarah Leah Whitson, an official of Human Rights Watch in New York, who said, "We have no reason to question the findings or the accuracy" of the survey.

"I expect that people will be surprised by these figures," she said. "I think it is very important that, rather than questioning them, people realize there is very, very little reliable data coming out of Iraq."

This is a truly staggering number and one that should give every American pause.

Our country needs to put an end to this fiasco as soon as possible. A process that should begin when Congress changes hands after the midterm elections.