I don't often do this...

I try to avoid discussing politics because I have complicated feelings about a variety of issues that face us everyday. Today, after pondering the meaning of Memorial Day (which is tomorrow) I just have to be clear about a couple of things.

I believe that any person who has already, is currently, or will in the future serve in Iraq or another area that the government has deemed a threat should be profusely thanked. I would not want to go and I don't have the courage.

With that said, I do not support this war. I believe that we are only alienating more people and we are in a quagmire. Although 'quagmire' is a word that was often associated with Vietnam, I believe it is an apt description here. I am not one of those uneducated people that draws parallels between the conflict without any basis. My years studying Vietnam while in graduate school have given me enough insight to believe that there are similarities. No, they are not the same conflict, but I believe that the end will be the same:

We will continue to fight this fight because our leaders tell us we will 'win' and that 'failure is not an option,' but we will eventually withdraw from Iraq without a true conclusion. Perhaps we will leave this war to the Iraqis to fight and after they are not propped up by American troops, the country will fall into mass chaos with the Sunnis and Shi'tes scrabbling to gain the most power or some other far more extreme fringe group will seize control. We have aided in destroying much of the infrastructure of Iraq and it will take decades to rebuild. The resentment and negative public opinion felt towards the United States may be irreparable.

I won't mention this topic again. I just felt that I had to express my feelings. You may not agree with me (my father, brother and many other people don't), but I think it is important to have thoughtful discussions about the hard topics.


Happy Memorial Day and thanks to all of our armed forces here and abroad.