I wonder, exactly what goes into the country's statistics about casualties of our current Iraqi Insanity? I know my friend's husband, who was killed by a road-side bomb in February 2004, gets officially counted. But what about the girl, locally - I won't mention her name because I want to give her family some space, though she wasn't a client of my agency and I have no legal need to protect her confidentiality - who died on Sunday? She hung herself upon being informed that her boyfriend was being shipped to Iraq. She was 19 years old, and an honor student.

I know, there had to have been underlying problems for someone to react that intensely to a what-if sort of situation, so I know she won't get any acknowledgment for dying for her country. But it seems to me that maybe her country played a role in killing her, nonetheless.

And let me be clear - this is not an anti-Bush rant (though I can go on one if you really want me to), nor is it anti-military. I don't like that we live in a world where military force is necessary, but I can dislike the institution while still having respect and appreciation for the people who, by choice or by necessity, keep that force running. I do think - and have from the start - that we have no business in Iraq, imposing our priorities on a bunch of people who don't want what we have to offer.

And I'll muzzle myself here rather than launch on an uninformed rant, because, really, who needs that?