Moments of Silence

I wanted to mark the new year by observing a minute of silence for each American soldier who died in Iraq in 2007. I wanted to think about each of those lost lives, about their hopes, about their heartbroken families.

Sixty seconds for an entire life — it’s a feeble gesture, I know. But I wanted, by devoting just one minute to contemplation of a single life, to get some sense of the scale and scope of the sacrifices made in Iraq by our men and women in uniform.

In 2007, there were 901 U.S. deaths in Iraq. That’s fifteen hours and one minute of silence.

In March, the Iraq war will enter its sixth year.

Now I want to scream.