No More. NO MORE!

The headlines read, “Five American Service Men Killed In Iraq”.

When will this end?

How long is this going to contine?

Many of America’s finest young men and women face physical danger and possible death every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hundreds of flag draped caskets bring their remains home to grieving families. Thousands of these young men and women pass through hospitals and physical therapy units, to learn to walk on new artificial limbs and deal with other crippling physical (and emotional) disabilities of war.

And for what?

For a war with no apparent end game and no exit strategy.

We went to war in Iraq to topple a dictator and to stop the production and possible use of weapons of mass destruction. Saddam is gone, and the WMD’s were never found there.

Get out now!

We went into Afghanistan to get Osama bin Laden and to break up Al Quaida. The Taliban has been overthrown from power there, Osama took a bullet to the head in neighboring Pakistan, and anyone who believes Al Quaida is ever going to disappear is crazy.

Get out now!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not some type of bleeding heart, tree hugging, pacifistic, flower child. I served in the military during the Viet Nam era. I support and pray daily for our troops. I supported our former President’s incursions into Iraq and Afghanistan, for the reasons given by him. I believe in the concept of the “just war”. I agree with Francis Scott Key (“And conquer we must, when our cause, it is just. And this be our motto, ‘In God is our trust’”). But the present situation in these two fronts begs the realization that enough is enough!

911 required drastic action by our leaders – not only for retribution, but for the future safety of our people and our way of life. The larger "War on Terror" is a just war. But wars come at great cost. That cost must be taken into account before combat begins. Wars must be justly prosecuted, with a strategy and a will to win, and with the resources necessary to accomplish the mission. There must be a plan to exit when the time is right.

That time has passed.

The sands of Iraq and rocky terrain of Afghanistan have run red with American blood. We know that some sacrifice was necessary – but not a drop more than required. Five more of our fighting men have been killed this week in a place where our forces are being “drawn down”. When we leave Iraq, after all these years, trillions of dollars spent, and American lives lost – does anyone really believe that democracy will work there? A three way civil war between Shiites, Sunni’s and Kurds is inevitable. And yet the spending, and dying continues to go on.

Get out now!

And Afghanistan! Haven’t we learned what the Russians learned there? Do we honestly believe that we can win a war against a tribal culture still existing in something akin to the stone age? Yet the bleeding, maiming and death goes on.

Get out now.

Two billion dollars are being poured down that drain every day. TWO BILLION DOLLARS EVERY DAY! Our service men and women faithfully fulfill their duties and obey their orders, all the while at risk of dying – in a war that has no clear strategy, and arguably, at this point, of no strategic value to the safety of our nation. Furthermore, their sacrifices are not only unappreciated, but resented by many of the very people they are supposedly there to protect.

Meanwhile, our nation’s borders remain porous. Our neighbors try to recover from floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters of biblical proportions. Our infrastructure is crumbling. Our education system is woefully inadequate. And our national debt is unfathomable. Yet we continue to pour billions of dollars of our resources and the best of our young people into the abyss – with no sign of success in sight.

Enough.

Pull the plug.

I don’t care who gets the credit (or the blame), just stop the bleeding. Bring our service people home so they may be with their families and prepare for the inevitable time when we must call them into action for the just causes of national security and protection of our allies.

Maybe you agree. Perhaps you don’t, but that is one Kentuckian’s opinion, “For What It’s Worth”.