That Black Armband

I don't watch much tv, but I catch the national news every night. And every night I'm bombarded with the newest numbers of American dead.
Today I read an article in the NY Times by Bob Herbert. It drove home the fact that nothing is getting better in Iraq. We're only at the 11th of August and yet this month is already rife with American casualties (not to mention the Iraqis who are dying too). I do support those in service. But that doesn't mean I support their deaths.

In Herbert's article, there was a quote from John McCain: "It was a shameful thing to ask men to suffer and die, to persevere through god-awful afflictions and heartache, to endure the dehumanizing experiences that are unavoidable in combat, for a cause that the country wouldn't support over time and that our leaders so wrongly believed could be achieved at a smaller cost than our enemy was prepared to make us pay." That quote is from a book on Vietnam, and yet it applies perfectly to the Iraq situation.

If you've got the time, do read the Herbert article.


Peace in the Middle East.