The senseless shooting at Virginia Tech this week is awful and deplorable. That goes without saying. But, imagine if you will that a story involving the senseless deaths of 30 or so of your fellow citizens was a daily occurrence. Imagine living in a country where you would be thankful if it were only 30 people who had been killed that day. Imagine being consumed by constant fear of your own life and the lives of all your family and friends. Imagine living that way for more than 4 years and with no conceivable end in sight.

Of course, I am talking about Iraq. On the day that the Virginia Tech shootings happened, 60 plus civilians were killed in Iraq. More than half of their bodies were just found littering the streets. Today, 4 bombs killed 157 people and wounded a number more. Imagine that, 157 people, a majority of which are citizens, dead in a single day. This is happening every single day in Iraq. And that is not to even account for the 3,000 plus American soldiers who have been killed thus far. That number is 100 times the amount killed Monday at Virginia Tech.

I am not trying to take anything away from the tragedy of those shootings on Monday. I am just trying to bring back a sense of perspective and a feeling of indignation at the scope of the loss of life that is continuing to happen in Iraq. Do not let the fact that this "war" has been so protracted nor the fact that there is seemingly no end in sight, desensitize you and take away from the real human tragedy.

Thanks for reading...