When it's not your child amongst the 30,000 being sent, it's easy to make an intellectual argument. When it's not your spouse who will soon be face to face with death and dismemberment, you may gloss over the human costs of war. And when it's not you who is awake at night, praying that the brutal winds of fate don't bring a casualty officer to your door, you might miss what escalation in Afghanistan really means.
When my brother deployed for Iraq, I knew he would never be the same. Even if he came home alive, his future was forever changed. He suffered from emotional scars but had found a place in the world as a husband, a father, and an advocate for mentally handicapped adults. His deployment meant that all of his demons now had an open window to escape from and the consequences promised to be far reaching.
When I got the call, for a split second, I hoped that what I was hearing was that my brother had lost his leg in an explosion. That was what I hoped for. Instead, he was dead.
Hundreds of thousands of other families are now suffering the consequences of war. Usually in quiet, they watch their formally productive and caring loved one battle their own demons. The results are disastrous. Divorce. Violence. Substance Abuse. Suicide.
The injuries are horrific. Modern medicine and body armor have kept thousands alive who, in wars past, would have died. They have lost legs and arms, eyes and ears, half of their skulls.
100,000 US troops will now be stationed in Afghanistan. A surge means more enemy engagement, more death, more injury. All of this is will happen in the months and years to come.
This site has been abuzz with defenses of and attacks on the President. For the people I walk with, tomorrow's speech means one thing--it means their kid is going back to a war zone, perhaps for the 5th time, with a damaged body and a broken soul.
We owe our veterans our gratitude. This site does an amazing job with its IGTNT series. It was started by a vet. I implore each of you to drop the academic and political lenses when you watch tomorrow night and take the view of a military spouse or a mother or a child whose father is off to war. The consequences of this decision will be multiplied countless times over, for at least another generation to come.
Instead of getting mad at Michael Moore for a few words or an entire thought, or worrying about the monetary cost of the war, take your anger, your passion and sink it into a family who will tearfully hug and kiss their loved one for perhaps the very last time as they yet again say good-bye.
And then ask yourself if it's worth it.
