Counting human lives

Yesterday evening, 6 of us with CodePink Austin held an hour vigil along the Cesar Chavez side of City Hall Plaza, marking the sad passing of the 1,000 mark in the number of US OEF troop deaths, mostly in Afghanistan. The figure doesn't reflect the number of troops who have died as a result of suicide. The number of Afghan civilians killed since October 2001 is an unknown number probably greater than 28,000.

As we stood with our signs, the flag-draped coffins, civilian shoes and pair of combat boots, motorists passed us from 3 directions. Most seemed to look on without much expression. Some honked. I noticed only two give us the thumbs-down.

It's a strange and sad feeling to mark a certain number of deaths when every human life is of equal value, soldier and civilian. When will this end?

While we were there, a reporter and photographer from The Daily Texan came by to talk with us and take pictures. See their story in today's issue.

photo by Heidi Turpin