Backatcha, Chris,

I Tivo "The Daily Show" every weeknight, and am a big fan of Lewis Black's "Back in Black" segment (which seems to be appearing less frequently, though).

Yeah, I saw that poll regarding trustworthiness, too. Go figure . . . I saw Tom DeLay being interviewed by John Stewart last week. That smarmy crook invoked God and Jesus continually during his morally and ethically bankrupt regime, and he's just one in a very long list of Christians I wouldn't trust anywhere near anything I valued. "The more he talked of his honor, the more we counted our spoons." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

As to the Iraq War death toll I cited, I had an asterisk in my post, and intended to cite my source. You are not unreasonable to doubt that is the correct figure, and I, too, take note that it is suspect by mere virtue of it being the highest figure cited. However, the research was conducted "from data from the top US medical epidemiology group in the World’s top Public Health School (the Nobel Laureate-containing Bloomberg School of Public Health) at the top US Johns Hopkins University, published peer-reviewed in the top UK medical journal The Lancet and endorsed by 27 top Australian medical experts." (link below). You doubt that a figure of 100/day is accurate. You're right - other reputable sources suggest 500/day is more accurate. Remember - this is "excess dead" due to the war. Not simply direct casualties. The figure cited is 13.3 deaths annualy per 1000 people compared to a pre-invasion toll of 5.5/1000. Total population about 27M. Infant mortality is WAY up.

And I think you may be too sanguine regarding the role of religion in the initiation of our invasion. The three big factors were oil (increased profits for Bush family, and cronies, and corporate support), religion (Bush's own religious beliefs, and his handlers' understanding that their administration would garner enormous support from the wealthy religious right, along with a terribly irrational and bizarre belief system among evangelists regarding the Rapture, the Apocalypse and Israel) and a naked power grab utilising the well-known propensity of Americans to frighten like sheep at any misperceived threat (along with a cloying hyperpatriotism among the unthinking, ignorant mobs following the World Trade Center attacks). The Christian fundamentalist component was intermingled with the others, and every bit as important. As just one of many reliable sources, I suggest "With God on Their Side," a 2005 book by Esther Kaplan, Nation journalist and editor. It speaks directly to the role of the religious right in this disgusting perversion of American values, and is a real eye-opener - extremely well-documented, researched and written.

MW
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• One Million Iraqi Deaths