I submitted the following letter to the Cleveland Plain Dealer today:

 How quickly we forget. The sixth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq passed almost unnoticed. On March 19th the Plain Dealer’s front page had precisely no stories marking the advent of the war. Most other media outlets seemed to have ignored the event as well.

Even more upsetting is the extent to which the general public seems to have forgotten that people are still fighting and dying in Iraq. Every year for the past six years I have officiated some sort of religious service to mark the war’s anniversary. Each year these services have included a reading of the names of American and Iraqi war dead. Attendance at the services has fluctuated over the years. Last year’s service, the first I organized in Cleveland, drew about 80 people and coverage from two television stations. This year I expected a smaller attendance but I was shocked when not a single person showed up for the service the night of March 19th. 

Since March 19, 2003 more than 4,200 Americans and at least 100,000 Iraqis have died. In the future I pray that we do a better job of remembering them.