Cord Byrd: “press reports today indicate that the number of American troops killed in Iraq has now reached 2,000--2,000. This is…”

“press reports today indicate that the number of American troops killed in Iraq has now reached 2,000--2,000. This is another tragic milestone in this costly and unnecessary war in which too much blood--too much blood, too much blood--has already been spilled. And I offer my deepest sympathies to the brave men and women who have given their lives--that is everything. They have given their lives. They have given their all, everything, their lives--most of these young lives in their 20s or thereabouts--given their lives in selfless dedication to service--2,000--2,000 men and women given their lives in dedication to our Nation. See the empty chairs. Two thousand, 2,000 empty chairs at the table, 2,000. How many hearts have been broken? How many tears have been spilled? I offer to these families my prayers that God, almighty God, may comfort them in their grief over the loss of their beloved husbands, wives, sons or daughters, brothers or sisters. As we mourn the losses that have already occurred in the war in Iraq, Americans should be mindful that all indications are that there will be many more losses to come--many more losses to come, yes, in the most dangerous, the most dangerous country in the world, the most violent country in the world. How would you like your sons or grandsons or granddaughters to go? And for what? For what? They did not ask to be sent to war. They were young. They had life ahead of them.…”