In many ways, President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office in January because of the Iraq War. Yes, this visionary inspired millions with his grace, intellect and cool passion. However, one of the main reasons that many of us supported his campaign was because of his initial opposition to the Iraq War. There appeared to be a clear difference from his early condemnation of the war and that of Senator Hillary Clinton's belated opposition.

Now that Senator Clinton is to soon become Secretary Clinton and Defense Secretary Gates continues in Defense, it is crucial that President-elect Obama demonstrate that he will follow his own beliefs and principles and bring this war to a speedy conclusion. For so many, the conflict simply cannot end soon enough.

Americans and Iraqi citizens are continuing to die in this unjust, unnecessary and useless war. Their mortal consequences don't make the front pages as they used to. The casualties may be running lower than in previous months, yet suicide bombings seem to be spiking again. Whatever the body count, it is time for the numbers to stop in this ravaged, far away nation.

Just ask the family of 19 year old Army Private Charles Barnett (pictured above) who died this month in Tallil, Iraq. He told his mother he joined the Army because he wanted to help people and needed to pay for his education. He had just finished getting his GED. Tragically, the war did not end soon enough for this family.

Or the family of 23 year old Army Sgt. Jose Regalado (pictured on left) who was killed in Mosul, Iraq this month. Sgt. Regalado was married with one child. According to a story in the Associated Press, he carried the ultrasound of his unborn daughter with him in order to help get through to the next day. The war is not over for his family.

The names are endless and each day another dies is another unnecessary death in a war built upon lies and deceit. As the economic crisis consumes America, we will be doing a huge disservice to our moral fabric to allow this war to continue until 2011. The President-elect must put his own imprint on our policy in Iraq and ignore that deadline set by the Bush Administration.