We admire and praise the brave military families of those who are serving in Iraq.
Following a over-before-you-know-it war in which there were battles won, territory claimed, and video footage of cheering, liberated Iraqis, there are now very few uplifting, patriotic images of our troops coming out of Iraq. Where families were glued to the TV screen during the war for images of their heroic son or daughter, that footage left Baghdad many, many months ago along with the journalists who provided it.
We are left with more vague reports from Iraq, which have devolved into little more than a terrorist attack report. a daily body count of heartwrenching frequency which has dulled our outrage with each passing car bomb.
Military parents often find themselves instead praying their child's name does not wind up on the evening news or the local newspaper.
Instead of a war in which we - along with the military families - can cheer our young men and women, many of us now pay this foreign occupation only a cursory glance. Our presence in Iraq has slowly been pushed further and further into the recesses of the newspaper and newscasts, and now wilts in the shadows of Hurricane Katrina.
But military families still wait and watch, hoping heir sons and daughters can survive this indefensible military action. A lame duck president continues to advocate staying the course, but his own record of military service is uninspiring to a parent whose child he has sent to the hostile Middle East.
The president does not have a realistic, concrete plan to pull out our troops from Iraq, and his redundant drone for patience only fuels his critics who charge that this was an illegitimate, dreadfully-conceived war sparked by a personal, selfish vendetta.
And while a nation demands that our troops be brought home, we are training other armies to die in our place, so it's no wonder this transfer of power and subsequent withdrawal has been endlessly stalled and delayed.
Meanwhile, our lonely military parents are left to count the days until their child's return, notsomuch as a hero but as a survivor, which is now seen as victory for a soldier serving in Iraq.
We are left with more vague reports from Iraq, which have devolved into little more than a terrorist attack report. a daily body count of heartwrenching frequency which has dulled our outrage with each passing car bomb.
Military parents often find themselves instead praying their child's name does not wind up on the evening news or the local newspaper.
Instead of a war in which we - along with the military families - can cheer our young men and women, many of us now pay this foreign occupation only a cursory glance. Our presence in Iraq has slowly been pushed further and further into the recesses of the newspaper and newscasts, and now wilts in the shadows of Hurricane Katrina.
But military families still wait and watch, hoping heir sons and daughters can survive this indefensible military action. A lame duck president continues to advocate staying the course, but his own record of military service is uninspiring to a parent whose child he has sent to the hostile Middle East.
The president does not have a realistic, concrete plan to pull out our troops from Iraq, and his redundant drone for patience only fuels his critics who charge that this was an illegitimate, dreadfully-conceived war sparked by a personal, selfish vendetta.
And while a nation demands that our troops be brought home, we are training other armies to die in our place, so it's no wonder this transfer of power and subsequent withdrawal has been endlessly stalled and delayed.
Meanwhile, our lonely military parents are left to count the days until their child's return, notsomuch as a hero but as a survivor, which is now seen as victory for a soldier serving in Iraq.
