WHY 4K? You may remember that we reached one of what Donald Rumsfeld once called "arbitrary" milestones in Iraq -- the 3,000th American fatality -- on the last day of 2006. Another month later, and for just a slightly different milestone figure, we're now over 4,000. How's the math on that work when more than 80 coalition personnel (so far) have fallen in January? Remember, the 3,000 figure counted only American service personnel. There are, as of today, another 253 non-American coalition fatalities. But the real jump comes from contractor deaths. As the Houston Chronicle reports, a new survey shows that over 770 contractors have been killed as well in Iraq. (It's not clear what share of them are American contractors.) That puts the Iraq total, irrespective of nationality or whether the person is serving in a military or private uniform, well over 4,000. "I think people have lost patience with this war without calculating in the other 770 people who have died," says Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky in the Chronicle. Just think of what the public reaction would be if the reported figures "were now closer to 4,000 people who have died." Maybe they would just think it arbitrary.
--Tom Schaller
