Iraq

What a bloody mess. Billions spent and nothing to show for it. A national agenda that could have made far better use of this $ was totally ignored. I'm with Reed & Chafee and never thought we should have gone to war. Hey, I remember Vietnam. I recall a commentator (?Christopher Buckley) once calling for a new Cabinet office. A Secretary of History. We keep fighting World War II. Unfortunately our enemies have adopted other tactics.

I listened to candidate Whitehouse speak on this subject. While he was against the war & wanted a pullout, he said that he learned the hard way to be less aggressive in his remarks as sometimes there were relatives of service members in the audience. I know now what he means.

Yesterday I met a Mom a few years younger than myself. She was telling me about her son - age 20 who was married & about to have a baby. When he was 18 he was supposed to attend college. Instead he decided to do his duty and help the Iraqis. That's what he was told & what he believed, so he joined the National Guard as an infantryman. He was deployed to Iraq & three months later (more than a year ago), he was injured by a bomb & sent home.

He received some face & body shrapnel injuries and major damage to his left arm & hand. His mom consoled herself that he wasn't so bad off (and still alive) when she visited him at Walter Reed. There she witnesses horrific injuries.

He still hasn't recuperated & is waiting for word whether or not he can remain in the Guard. He lives with pain & has limited use of his arm. He's starting to take college courses again.

His mother said that she didn't want us to leave Iraq totally. Otherwise, her son's sacrifice (and others) would be worthless. I mentioned that I'd heard that same talk during Vietnam. She thought that Vietnam was different. "Different," I replied, "yeah, a lot more of our soldiers were killed every day." She said that her son had been disappointed that the Iraqis hadn't offered them more help in the villages, although they said that they were glad to have them there. Sounds just like Vietnam to me.

We spent some time talking as mothers of sons. I told her that my brother was for the war & thought that the Nat'l Guarders should stop whining. I reminded him that he spend a lot of his time going to college to avoid the draft. One summer he spent making up classes that he had failed. He hadn't want to but my Dad asked him if he'd like to spend time in a far-a-way jungle instead. He surmised that a big six footer like him wouldn't stand much of a chance in those rice paddies with snipers. My brother went to summer school & passed.

I've seen & heard what those recruiters tell these young kids. Money for college, training, service, liberty, money for college. Video games that are just like being in the service. Except at the end everyone walks away whole and happy. Remember when it was one weekend a month? They forgot the part about war, serious injury, enlistement extensions. They didn't mention 114 degrees, kids with bombs, injuries & pain. They don't mention moms & dads with tears in their eyes.

I'm angry at a lot of people for getting us into this mess. I want out. Now. Did we lose? Yeah, we did. And we hurt a lot of people, including ourselves. I like the idea of a Department of History.