“But what I understand, and I think the other military and veterans here at Salon understand is the level of sacrifice made by these women and men, and their civilian families who wait for them at home.”

Thanks for your thoughtful words. Since I started commenting on Salon, I have had one primary goal, we must always remember the human cost of war. You mention the cost to our military, yet those serving in Iraq as the seven brave sergeants have said, face the cost of what their war has done to the Iraqi people and to the people in the region who are greatly affected by the war.

I would never pretend to fully understand the human mental and physical cost from combat first hand because I was a desk flyer in the Air Force. I watched our military change from a draft force, many people entered the Air Force to escape the Army or Marines, to an all volunteer force. I can’t begin to explain how dramatic that change improved the quality of the members of our military. Because we led the nation in providing a level playing field for minorities and women, we truly did attract the best and the brightest.

That is why the abuse of these fine Americans by ideological, psychologically maimed civilian leadership is so sad and emotionally draining. These seven sergeants represent the mental turmoil of our men and women in Iraq who are far from being sheep and know they have been ordered to be foils in an obscene fools life and death game.

So far, even though their op-ed piece was run in the “liberal” New York Times, I do not see it getting much legs in print or on TV. Having congress on vacation doesn’t help. The best bet is for our leading Democratic presidential candidates to take up their cause and give them the visibility they so deserve. They have laid out a very sound, well expressed case for the ridiculous surge and continuing belief that there is some way to “win” in Iraq. Their voice will resonate with the American people if it can be heard loud and clear.

I posted the following on Joan Walsh's thread:

Since I started commenting on Salon, I have had one primary goal, we must always remember the human cost of war. You mention the cost to our military, yet those serving in Iraq as the seven brave sergeants have said, face the cost of what their war has done to the Iraqi people and to the people in the region who are greatly affected by the war.

I would never pretend to fully understand the human mental and physical cost from combat first hand because I was a desk flyer in the Air Force. I watched our military change from a draft force, many people entered the Air Force to escape the Army or Marines, to an all volunteer force. I can’t begin to explain how dramatic that change improved the quality of the members of our military. Because we led the nation in providing a level playing field for minorities and women, we truly did attract the best and the brightest.

That is why the abuse of these fine Americans by ideological, psychologically maimed civilian leadership is so sad and emotionally draining. These seven sergeants represent the mental turmoil of our men and women in Iraq who are far from being sheep and know they have been ordered to be foils in an obscene fools life and death game.

So far, even though their op-ed piece was run in the “liberal” New York Times, I do not see it getting much legs in print or on TV. Having congress on vacation doesn’t help. The best bet is for our leading Democratic presidential candidates to take up their cause and give them the visibility they so deserve. They have laid out a very sound, well expressed case for the ridiculous surge and continuing belief that there is some way to “win” in Iraq. Their voice will resonate with the American people if it can be heard loud and clear.

Agree with everything you said. Far too many vets claim they are fighting for American freedom and then condemn anyone who dares to protest and have a different opinion about unnecessary wars. They also support "Don't Ask, Don't tell," that clearly is discriminatory and denies service by men and women who would in no way cause any morale problems as European military services have proved.

I don't want to hang around closed minds in any setting and now that I am retired from the military and civilian worlds- I don't have to. That's why I love blogs. You can find a lot of open, experienced and exciting minds.