Can We Ever Say "When" to War?

As my husband, son, and I drove up to the diner today, the usual groups were stationed at their usual spots with their usual signs and flags. Heading north, there are the folks who shout their support for the troops and America with their flags and military gear. Heading south, there are the folks who also support the troops and America, but theirs is a voice of withdrawal from the war rather than continuing it. They have American flags, but among them are ones with the word Peace and one with a dove.

You might think that these people represent the extreme right or left viewpoints in this country, but I don't think either side is that extreme. I believe they both love and respect this country, and support the troops; they're just communicating differently. I'm all about supporting our troops -- many of whom are much younger than my own children -- but I want them all home safe and sound. Also, once they get home, I think we could do more for them to show that their volunteer enlistment is appreciated and acknowledge that they have seen stuff of nightmares in their postings overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many of our soldiers volunteered because they believed that they could make a difference, and they have with their efforts to rebuild schools and to reach out to those citizens whose lives were shattered by bombs and the killings around them. Unfortunately, a lot of them have joined the service because the U.S. economy is so bad that the incentives offered by the services (sign-on bonuses, college education, pension) are too good to pass up. I don't mean to get on a soap box, but how effective is our going into a centuries-old culture ever going to be...we cannot bomb our own culture into their lives...this has been proven time and time again.

If you go onto CNN's website, they have the statistics of how many of our soldiers have been killed in the years since Bush sent them, where they were killed, but more importantly, where they are from in terms of the United States. As you watch the maps populate with the dots representing cities and towns, you realize that we have lost so much. For whatever reason, as a species, we have a crazy notion that if we count and graph everything we do, from SATs to war casualties, it gives us a better sense somehow of control and progress, and maybe an acknowledgement of our existence in the space-time continuum.