Human toll: Iraq's long-term casualties

On Friday, Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, who has been in a wheelchair and almost totally paralyed since 1968, wrote about his concern for those wounded in Iraq.

Sunday's NY Times tells the story of one courageous Marine fighting his way back to be able to function after suffering serious brain injuries from a roadside bomb.

He represents thousands of others who will haunt this nation and its veterans hospitals for the next 50 years. It is just part of the human toll of the misguided Bush war on Iraq. More than 16,000 Americans have been wounded, and 2,225 have died. The Iraqi civilian toll is many times higher, and they are not getting the life-saving care described in today's story. President Bush has acknowledged 30,000 civilian deaths. The number of wounded could be 150,000 or 200,000. Do you wonder why the Iraqi people want US troops to leave?