2000

if you haven't heard, the number of US casualities in iraq has reached 2000. as of yesterday. and though i agree that this number is ridiculously high, i don't understand its significance. why choose 2000 to be a number to commemorate? was 1500 not good enough? not enough? what about 1200? 800? 450? 30? those are all deaths. is 2000 good for shock value? even as bush, in response to the rising casualties, specifically notes that more deaths will come due to continued fighting? great.

and as the american side, we only notice the number of useless (or useful, whichever way you want to see it) deaths of our soldiers. what about the iraqis? what about their soldiers? or the innocent, accidental deaths of bystanders and uninvolved citizens who happened to be too close to a suicide bomber? we're ignoring those numbers (if they're even counted)...