Meanwhile, In The Middle East...

Well since we all know now that this election has indeed been a referendum on Iraq (among other important domestic issues), let's not get so into the electoral analysis tonight that we forget that said war is still going on. While we count the votes here, people are dying there. The AP reports-

As of Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006, at least 2,837 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,275 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers...

Sobering numbers.

Some more headlines:
-Reuters: Iraq charges 100 over prison torture
-AFP: Hundreds of US soldiers call for Iraq withdrawal in petition
-AP: U.S. envoy to Iraq likely quitting post

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman is on MSNBC talking about staying the course in Iraq... he keeps saying over and over "If Iraq becomes another Afghanistan..." and not once has Chris Matthews or anyone else stop him and say "Ummm, Ken, you do remember that we went to war (and are still at war) in Afghanistan after 9/11, right?". Does everyone in Washington have amnesia about that war?!

If I were on MSNBC, I would've replied to Mehlman thusly- "Ken, maybe we should make sure Afghanistan doesn't become another Afghanistan before you start patting yourself on the back over your party's failed foreign policy. If you want to stand here and defend the debacle that was your war of choice in Iraq, that's your business, but the fact that you don't seem to remember or care that we are still engaged in Afghanistan- which is also on the verge of collapse- tells me that your party is not one we should taking advice from on these matters."

Democrats may win tonight because of Iraq, but it's time they really stood up on the issue.