Not one more son...

In today's Tribune (I guess the article was published on the 12th, but I read online...) there is an editorial titled Iraq is not worth the sacrifice on one more mother's child written by Kathleen Snyder. Her son was captured and executed after a January 20th attack in Karbala Iraq.

Last night my Mr. and I attended a farewell party for a family member who will be deployed soon. I fear for his safety and I am angered that he is being asked to go. We have very different views on the war and the current administration. He goes because he believes that he can make a difference, and he believes that the US has some sort of responsibility to the people there. I'm not sure exactly what he thinks that might be, and it seemed inappropriate to ask so instead, I wished him safety and said that we would have to have another party next summer, when he comes home.

I'm angry that so much is being asked of men and women and their families, for something that is so unnecessary. We were lied to about the reasons for the war, but each time a new reason is fabricated, so many choose to believe that it's a good reason. We must protect ourselves from the 9-11 terrorists, wait, no, we must stop Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction, wait, no, we must secure Iraq. I don't even know what the reason currently being given for the justification of sending people to fight and be injured or killed.

Kathleen Snyder ends her editorial with this: Death on the battlefields of Iraq does not compare to World War II. The sacrifices being made by American families are not in the proud tradition of generations fighting for their country. Only when all Americans realize the horror of Iraq, realize that the situation is not going to improve, and bring all combat troops home will there be peace for my family. Not until then can the American military be rebuilt to fight the true war on terror. Stop the insanity. Stop the war. Bring our troops home to defend America.