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Sunday reflections for me always include time for remembering the men and women who have died during the current war.
Because this war has been conducted without the broad reaching national involvement that a military draft would insure, it seems to me that we go about our business without much thought about what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Current national opinion polls indicate that the number one issue of concern for Americans is the economy. Does that strike you as odd?
I expect that the number one issue of concern for American families with family members and loved ones serving in this seemingly interminable conflict is not the economy. What do you think?
Since the war in Iraq began over five years ago, 4,144 of our troops have lost their lives in Iraq, not including casualties in Afghanistan. Over 4,000 have died since President Bush declared "mission accomplished." Over 30,000 have been wounded. Then there is the entire matter of the Iraqi war dead. Estimates range in the hundreds of thousands, including vast numbers of civilians.
Every time I open my browser, my eye goes instinctively to the "war cost counter."
I think of the funding and how it could be spent in alternative ways. Far more valuable to us all are the lives that have been and will be lost or broken.
So, regardless of your opinion about the war, its strategy or its purpose; forgetting politics and ideology -- let's just remember today those who are far away from home in a very tough place. Possibly, change will be released as we remember and reflect.
Published August 17, 2008 by Larry James |
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| Tags:
Economy
Iraq
War
