Iraq : War is Over

In a moment of rare seriousness I want to say : I am overjoyed at the end of military action in Iraq. Too many dead among the military on both sides; way to many dead among the civilian population of Iraq , numbering so high as to equal the Rwandan genocidal killing fields ; we saw the worst of ourselves at Abu Ghraib; we went on lies; we shattered and forever mangled the minds and bodies of young men who were told they were "Doing the right thing" and quickly learned they were not but had no choice but to follow orders; billions and billions of wasted dollars on a war that served no purpose.

But none of that is what brings me the most joy. What brings me joy is that this evening, for the first time in their memory, I can put my children to sleep knowing that one war has ended.

Now, let's get the boys and girls out of Afghanistan, and let our small ones go to bed knowing that we have no war at all.

Please remember today those who have lost their sons; their daughters. Look the young men with mangled legs and arms and plates in their skulls in their eyes and blame them not for the war; they were but part of the machine, not the ones who invented it; and take a moment today to reflect, or pray, or meditate about how awesome that ideal is , that ideal of peace; that ideal of not running off rattling sabers and firing muskets; and then take a moment to remember the over 1 million dead on both sides , and ask yourself was it all worth it?

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