"There's no evidence that their deaths happened _because_ of Iraq, just because they died _in_ Iraq."

Tell me you didn't really say that. What the hell does it matter how someone dies in Iraq? If we never invaded Iraq, no one dies there because of us. I hate this F'ing war and the mindless rationalizations that are made to excuse it. The sadness of losing two or three of these fine men is overwhelming.

Please everyone who comments and probably, like me, has never faced the horrors of war, think before you speak and act in a way to honor those who have died at the hands of our president and the sick people he has around him. Bring our troops home!

These seven carried out their mission even though they fully understood the false premises their civilian leaders used to send them to Iraq. In their NYT op-ed piece they made that clear. There are thousands of other brave men and women who serve and die in Iraq who have to go through the daily agony of carrying out the mission and protecting their buddies because they are professionals who swore to protect and defend the United States. It is far more than ironic that these seven and others know there are far better ways to do that than being involved in an unnecessary and tragic war.

Those who believe that they are protecting us over there to keep from fighting them here and those who don’t deserve the same coverage and honor. Considering that American military deaths are soon approaching 4,000, there isn’t a feasible way to have their individual stories told in ways other than doing what PBS or major newspapers do by showing us their pictures and vitals. No media, Salon included, can provide the individual stories that each death and severe injury deserves.

Maybe if we didn’t have an administration that tries to hide the coffins being returned on Air Force cargo planes and legislators who were willing to face the horrors of war by fighting in Iraq instead of being safely led around in dog and pony shows, we would be bringing the troops home in a safe and measured way instead of being subjected to a phony story that brings us back to pre-surge levels by next summer. I will refuse to watch and listen to that crap when our president spins his fake emotional yarns on Thursday.

While Gen. Petraeus has serious doubts about whether he and his troops will eventually obtain mission success, and the mission keeps changing as the desirable end becomes more and more elusive, he is not lying because he truly believes that his strategy and tactics could be successful.

He has no business leading men and women into maiming and death if he doesn’t believe that.

While he is not lying to the American people, he frequently lies to himself. He has let his ambitions overwhelm his common sense. He so wants to win to become one of the greatest genius generals ever that he mires himself in charts and trends and what deaths count and don’t count. He says it is OK to align with your former enemy because the statistics will look better and of course that won’t really provide the Sunnis any sectarian advantage in the continuing civil war. He discovers that politics in Iraq are more local than national, what a surprise, and then says that is why a national reconciliation is happening. In other words, when blinded by ambition, you don’t think with reason and logic, you think how can I find facts that will help me win.

He has no business leading men and women into maiming and death if he lies to himself like that.

His biggest lie comes when he becomes a politician and spokesman for the president spending more time than he should squiring administration and legislative leaders around Iraq to support the surge and long time presence in Iraq instead of leading his troops and telling the visitors things they don’t want to hear.

He has no business leading men and women into maiming and death if his personal goals cause him to lie or evade the realities of the political situation in Iraq and totally ignore what it has done to the Iraqi people.

General Betrayal does fit. He is betraying his troops, our nation, Iraqi neighbors, allies and the fight against terrorism. The only people he is not betraying are Israel and the other neocons that believe they are superior and also let their ambitions override their humanity. Gen. Betrayus has let his ambition override any other aspect of the war and the suffering it causes. Why any political war supporter chooses to tell the American people that this general is providing an objective, independent view of the war is obvious. They too choose to lie to themselves for their ambitions and egos.

They have no business leading men and women into maiming and death if they make this choice.