4,000

As the 4,000th American soldier dies in Iraq, Sen. Robert C. Byrd reflects on the war:

As we mark this painful milestone, we must ask ourselves: what is the moral
justification for allowing this war to continue? Can we honestly say that the
disastrous mission in Iraq warrants the sacrifice of more of our troops and the
heartache and loss that so many loved ones continue to suffer?

In March of 2003, just prior to the invasion of Iraq, I made a final plea to the
administration and my colleagues in Congress to avert a war that I believed
would reap sorrowful consequences for our nation. In a speech entitled "We Stand
Passively Mute", I expressed my outrage at the fact that the United States
Senate -- the world's greatest deliberative body -- stood "for the most
part-silent-ominously, dreadfully silent" on this monumental question.

Sadly, my worst fears have been realized. The decision to invade Iraq may go
down as one of the gravest foreign policy blunders in our nation's
history.