First rate.

...I thought for a minute it was Darth Vader wearing a new beach pattern armor, a nice change from basic black.

And then I thought that, perhaps, to the people in the Middle East, thanks to this terrible war, all our troopers look like Darth Vader in beach pattern armor. Whether they're actually decent people or not. This war has made all Americans villains.

I wonder if Americans will ever be seen again as "the good guys" within my lifetime.

...be seen again as "the good guys" within my lifetime' - Tomreedtoon.

Stop wondering. Even here in Australia, one of the participants in the coalition of the willing; the USA is, and will be on the nose for a long time to come. A majority of Australians polled in a recent survey, asking them to rate countries as a force for good or not, rated China in the top five. The US and Israel were down among a small group among the nots.

I am a supporter of the troops. I support one soldier more than the rest, however. Feel free to call me biased: he is my son and he is serving in the 82nd Airborne deployed again to Iraq.

I have spoken with him at length about the debates raging here in the US. I spoke with many members of his platoon over Christmas before their most recent deployment. These are 18-20 year old men whose minds are really turned to the lives they left behind: girls, video games, movies, fun. Drawing out their political opinions is difficult. This would be true of most young adults.

Anyone who has served in the military can understand this. What good does it do to speculate when you wear the uniform?

I have gleaned only the smallest understanding of what they are feeling and it boils down to this:

1) Do not protest in front of their bases. They regard it as a direct, intentional personal insult. This feeling seems nearly universal.

2) They want to do a good job.

3) They actually care about the Iraqis whom they feel they are trying to protect from al-Qaeda, native insurgents and their own neighbors.

4) They do not want to be occupiers: it is NOT what they joined for.

5) They believe in what they do even with all of the conflicting feelings apparent in their conversations.

The last point I will make without a number since it is the most important of all. It is difficult to convey this sentiment clearly in Times New Roman in a tiny little box on Salon.com, but I will try.

Soldiers want to come home. All soldiers in every war. They want to come home now, but they want to return with honor. Let me try again. The want to be here, at home, with their families, dating girls, watching movies, going to college. They serve for this purpose and this purpose only: the right to come home with honor.

Now as a parent I say honor be damned, bring my kid home now. I care nothing for honor as I once did when I served. I just want to see his face, have arguments with him, try to make him help around the house. But as a parent I also want to see him successful with a full load of youthful self-esteem and arrogance. I remember the men who came home from Viet Nam. I remember how we treated them. Still, my preference is clear: I want him home.

Now I am hoping that in the midst of all this debate there is someone who is smarter than me, who knows more, who sees a bigger picture. Someone who can give me all of what I want, not just the larger part of it. Is there any way, I ask, the get them home now and to get them home with honor? Not just honor, but a recognition within themselves that they are honored. Like the solders after the first Gulf war. A feeling of job well done but more importantly a feeling that the effort was recognized and honored by the rest of us.

What does honor demand, in their minds? Just acknowledgment of what they accomplished despite the incompetent meddling of Rumsfeld, the arrogant lies of Cheney, and the outright dereliction of duty of their Commander-in-Chief. That is not quite all. They have to be able to believe they were doing the right thing. And here is why I need someone smarter than me. I cannot see a way to both ends. I cannot see any path that leads to their return and to their feeling of being honored. If any have guidance for me here, let them speak now. But in the absence of perfection, Mr. President, Congress, please return our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives, our fathers and mothers. You have misused them long enough.

But if it be a sin to covet honour,

I am the most offending soul alive.

verelse, So enjoyed your letter please thank your son for his service for me and my family. I hope that he comes home soon.

War is such a horrible practice even when done for the the most noble reasons. My father a WWII marine fought on Iwo Jima, Saipan, and Kwajalein and was never the same. He was permanently scarred by the experience (and not just from being wounded).

"And I pray our child will never see

A little corporal again

Point toward a foreign shore

Captivate the hearts of men

Save my soul from evil, lord

And heal this soldiers heart

Ill trust in thee to keep me, lord

Im done with bonaparte"

- Mark Knopfler

torque

Neither President Bush nor, apparently, parents of troops in Iraq wish to read the report? Let me supply a quick bit from that report for the benefit of Salon poster Verelse, who so eloquently posted about her son protecting the Iraqi people from "insurgents." The report states: "If there were foreign forces in New Jersey, Tony Soprano would be an 'insurgent leader." Is it our job to occupy other countries until they are rid of their organized crime? Read the report, it's available for free online with a simple search.

Eloquent language about the nobility of serving in Iraq is brought back down to reality with the commonsense statements of the likes of Rep. David Obey (D-WI), who said in March 2007, "What matters is whether or not we produce a product today that puts pressure on this administration and sends a message to Iraq, to the Iraqi politicians, that we're going to end the permanent, long-term, dead-end baby-sitting service."

Verelse, I and others want to support your son now, by bringing him home NOW.