Last Throes - Update

From the WaPo:

A senior Iraqi general who commanded the Iraqi Army division in Baghdad was gunned down by insurgents today, the U.S. military said.

The death came on a day in which car bombings and other attacks killed more than 20 people and injured 50 others, shattering a relative lull in violence over the weekend that followed a partial curfew in the capital for Friday prayers.

For those of you keeping score at home: 2302 US Soldiers dead in 1083 days (2.13/day). A startling and grisly number in a war where now 52 percent of Americans feel we should begin withdrawing troops.

And in another vote of confidence for Bushco, Pat Tillman's father feels a whitewash coming on:

Pat Tillman Sr., a San Jose attorney, would not speak with CNN on camera. But he expressed frustration at the handling of his son's death so far and was pessimistic about the chances that the latest investigation would reveal anything new.

Sigh... Another day, another US$226,809,903. Want some perspective on the total we have spent so far?

• That's US$822 per citizen.
• Or US$108,888 per member of the Armed Services (including reserves).
• We could build 122 Freedom Towers (using the high cost estimate) to replace the World Trade Center towers.
  
• In 2003 (the last year I could find census data at this level), we could have put every 18 year through a four year public institution. And done the same for approximately 1/4 of the 2004 students. That's not just tuition - that's the whole shooting match.