Thank you for bringing the catastrophic number of Iraqi casualties to America's attention.

Thank you for bringing the catastrophic number of Iraqi casualties to America's attention.Your article, "Secret tally: At least 87,215 Iraqis dead since 2005," served as a much needed reminder for Americans that U.S. soldiers are not the only ones who are losing their lives in great numbers because of the Iraq War.

Richard Haling's opinion "Fight Them in Iraq, Not Here." (Dec.29) is an embarrassment to American pluralism. Haling's article shows a disturbing confusion regarding the difference between Muslims and terrorists.

The soldier's silhouette leans against his rifle as he kneels at the foot of a small cross. For more than six years, that veterans' memorial has stood at a busy Burbank intersection without complaint. But when the city decided to make it the centerpiece of the 2006-07 vehicle sticker, that riled lifelong resident Nichole Schultz.

It is hard to understand how the investigation of soldiers allegedly posting photographs of Iraqi corpses on the internet in exchange for access to online pornography has already been dismissed because of lack of evidence. With as much technology as the U.S. Army has, why can it not be concluded without a doubt that soldiers did not post pictures of Iraqi war dead?

It is fair to say that women in many parts of the Muslim world have been prevented from receiving equal rights with men. But it is not fair to say that the rights of women in Iraq have somehow gotten better because of the presence of American troops in the country, an idea Karen Hughes tried to sell to Muslim women who oppose the war in Iraq.

Reading about how 74 percent of Americans do not believe “the goal of overthrowing Iraq’s authoritarian government and establishing a democracy was by itself a good enough reason to go to war” should make all Americans wonder if describing their beloved country as a democracy is still appropriate (“55% reject using force to spread democracy,” Sept. 30).

The newest reports of abuse in Iraq by American soldiers is just one more reason why we need to bring our troops home now (“GIs: Beating of prisoners was routine,” Sept. 24).

There is a myth circulating around the world that women’s rights in the West are perfect. Thus any other body of rights is automatically labeled as discriminatory. In his column Derrick Z. Jackson propagates this myth by claiming, “It would be a travesty of American women, who have fought for equality to the level of dying in the military, did all this dying only to watch the burials of women’s rights in Iraq” (“What are our women fighting for?” Aug. 15).