At a loss...

It is particularly difficult to blog this week. Maybe the test burned me out, or maybe the news is just as drab as usual. There was a huge gas explosion somewhere in Europe (I already forgot where). In the title linked article, BBC reports on Russia supporting Iran's purely "civilian" nuclear program (yeah right). And oil prices are at an all time high today (predictable).

I know next week we have to write about the election and such - so I want to save the candidates' energy policies for that blog. I know if I don't get it out now, next week could turn into my own personal anti-war blog...

The death toll for American soldiers in Iraq is close to 4000 now - but there are many things to consider with this number. Include the deaths in neighboring countries where we are also fighting (5000). This doesn't include the thousands (millions?) of Iraqi deaths. And also consider the times. In WWII, when a man lost both of his legs he was almost guaranteed to be a casualty. Today, that same man has a good chance of living in a wheel chair the rest of his life (or lucky enough to be given prosthetic legs). Either way, he is moved to the list of nearly 30,000 wounded soldiers. It got me thinking about how many of the wounded men and women fighting in the Middle East are airlifted to our military bases in Germany. The hospital I was born at (while my father was serving the USAF) in Landstuhl is now a huge medical center for the war!

The other day, I spoke with several people about Obama's promise to withdraw all the troops from Iraq. They were either strongly for him and his plan or very strongly against it. Nobody commented on the obvious absurdity of his promise. Do people not realize we have consistantly had troops in Germany since WWII?!? We will be in Iraq until the end of our lifetimes.

War is like a tatoo, it is permanent. There are ways to remove it, but they are painful and leave scars.

When will a candidate be brave enough to step up and say, "Look, we may or may not have messed up here but it is too late to debate. Let's be strong and do the best we can for all parties involved. Let's finish the job we started and leave the World a better place because of this..." Wow, I sure do dream big ;)