I hope that you and your family are well. We wish the same for all families.

We read your opinion letter in the So. Bend Tribune today. Thank you for your vote against Ms. Rice for the reasons you stated. Our only objection to Senator Lugar as an alternative is his failure to stand up against the Bush policies despite his intellectual analyses that would logically support such opposition.

Mr. Bush obviously plans to continue his destruction of the finest human and physical resources of this country, mortgaging our future in order to avoid facing the political consequences of his actions. He shows himself to be confident and strong..but he is wrong. We need you and our other congressional representatives to be clear about what is better for our country.

This is the week's report of US military deaths in Iraq. The civilian casualty record is unclear because of various difficulties in counting accurately. The death rate is high. How many deaths will be enough to feed the Bush revenge machine????? Here is the link from which the report came: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties.

Sincerely yours,

Ellyn Stecker and Peter Smith for the Michiana Peace and Justice Coalition

Attachment:
There have been 1,619 coalition troop deaths, 1,448 Americans, 86 Britons, seven Bulgarians, one Dane, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 20 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 16 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 17 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of February 7, 2005. (Graphical breakdown of casualties). The list below is the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose families have been notified of their deaths by each country's government. At least 10,770 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. The Pentagon does not report the number of non-hostile wounded.

Lance Cpl. Jason C. Redifer 19 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Stuarts Draft, Virginia Died as a result of hostile action in Babil Province, Iraq, on January 31, 2005

Lance Cpl. Harry R. Swain IV 21 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Cumberland, New Jersey Died as a result of hostile action in Babil Province, Iraq, on January 31, 2005

1st Class Mark C. Warren 44 3rd Battalion, 116th Armor Cavalry Regiment, 116th Brigade Combat Team, Oregon Army National Guard LaGrande, Oregon Died of non-combat related injuries at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, on January 31, 2005

Cpl. Christopher E. Zimny 27 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Glenview, Illinois Died as a result of hostile action in Babil Province, Iraq, on January 31, 2005

Sgt. 1st Class Sean M. Cooley 35 150th Engineer Battalion, 155th Armor Brigade Ocean Springs, Mississippi Killed when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in northern Babil Province, Iraq, on February 3, 2005

Sgt. Stephen R. Sherman 27 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division Neptune, New Jersey Died of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Mosul, Iraq, on February 3, 2005

Lance Cpl. Sean P. Maher 19 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force Grays Lake, Illinois Died as a result of hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, on February 2, 2005

Spc. Robert T. Hendrickson 24 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division Broken Bow, Oklahoma Died from wounds sustained when his military vehicle overturned in Baghdad, Iraq, on February 1, 2005