Raedwulf, everyone's estimates of the numbers of dead in Iraq are driven by an ideological agenda. And everyone's opinions are driven by an ideological agenda too. We just have different agendas, that's all.

Find me an unprejudiced debater in any debate and I'll find you a three-legged chicken with six inch teeth...

That's the way it is. You are prejudiced, I am prejudiced, we are all prejudiced. Not one of us is totally objective. When my prejudices do not dovetail sufficiently well with yours, it bugs you. And it bugs me. And THAT's why we debate with each other.

To know this is to experience a certain measure of detachment, amusement, and humility. At least, that's how it affects me, anyway... ;-)

It's interesting how much time and energy some people are willing to burn up on an internet forum just so they can feel "right" and that they "won". Humph. I know how far that goes. Not too damn far.

As Shakespeare said, it's mostly "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".