In honor of today’s 5th anniversary of 9/11, over 3,000 bloggers are paying personal tribute to the 2,996 victims who died in the attacks.

Lee, Drama Queen’s Momma, Liz and some of the Bloghers are participating.

It is a powerful tribute. Almost overwhelming. Seeing images and histories of the firefighters, office workers, policemen, and others who perished is heart-rending. These tributes will be posted on blogs and linked by more and I hope the result is comfort for their grieving families and friends.

Everything I wrote above is sincere. Please do not take offense at what I’m about to say next.

The tribute is incomplete.

As of this writing, at least 2,916 coalition troops have lost their lives in Iraq. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. American, British, Italian, Ukrainian, Australian, Slovakian. The list goes on and on.

If we are going to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, we cannot stop there. Tribute should be paid to those who have been sent to fight a war based upon false pretenses for which support is stirred and approval ratings gained with each passing anniversary of 9/11.

The war in Iraq is not a war on terror. It never was. Yet always at this time of year, we are sold lie after lie about how this war was started and continues to protect our national security.

Let’s remember every one of the dead in Iraq. And Afghanistan. At least 337 Americans and 27 Canadians have been lost there. Operation Enduring Freedom at least had roots in the goal of ending or reducing terrorism, but after the attention shift to Iraq, Afghanistan has been given up as mostly lost. Let’s remember those who gave their lives in the cause of rooting out terrorists (terrorists that WE, the US, created — never underestimate the phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”).

And while we’re at it, do we have a count of those who lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina last year? They were victims, too. The most recent count I found was at the Washington Post on May 20th: 1577 lives lost. Perhaps there is no list of names because they are still actively searching for bodies? Margaret Saizan (Beyond Katrina) reports that Columbia University is trying to compile a complete list. This is the list from the Louisiana Department of Health, last updated 2/23/2006.

As remembrances of the 9/11 victims are posted on the web, please also remember those brave members of the military who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and continue to fight for what could be best called a murky cause (but do so because they are brave and they serve their country, which means serving the ones in charge), and those who lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina, whether or not their names are known.

Update: New Orleans artist Elizabeth Underwood has created her tribute.

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