One Sad Happiness

I am fortunate by the grace of my Father to have lived long enough to hear the news that the United States would be withdrawing military forces from Iraq. I remember March 2003 like it was yesterday and I can still feel the sense of unease that saturated my being then. There was just something wrong about it. Something just did not make sense. I knew when I heard the Bush administration claim to be hunting Al Qaeda there, that they were simply putting on a show, wagging the dog with real American blood. Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Hussein, they hated each other kind of like Iran and Hussein hated each other. It all fell down to weapons of mass destruction, and we all found out how that worked out. We started a war out of lies, and hubris, and stupidity and we allowed ourselves to remain involved in that war for over eight years. Now we bitch, and moan, and fret about the state of our economy. Up to this very day not one single sorry, sack politician has been held accountable for the mistruths and deceit involved with the War in Iraq. That fact does not speak well towards the state of our nation. President Barrack Obama said he was going to end our presence there, and it seems he has stood by his word. It took too long, but this will be a good Christmas for a lot of weary warriors who've been far from home for far too long. Of all the geo political news of the last ten years this news made me feel the best. I am glad that we are leaving that place, for we never belonged there. Ultimately, however, any feelings of satisfaction about our leaving shall fade into the nothing when I remember the price we paid while being there. So many of our best, most put together, well rounded citizens, having the dash board of their vehicles enter their chests and exit into the sky. Our most faithful servants and we cast them to the wolves who were waiting with sniper rifles and IEDs. For what? Freedom for the Iraqi people? Very few things are free in a war zone. A buffer against Iran? Well, that certainly is gone. Did we do it to stabilize the region? Oh, hello Turkey how is your Kurdish issue going? Oil? You damn right, oil. In the end, the War in Iraq was a war waged for greed, and those who wage such wars have always paid a terrible price. I hope to the authorities in the Heavens that our bad economy is the worst we are going to get, but then I remember the floods, and tornadoes, and hurricanes, and fires, and droughts, and on and on, and I realize, we pay a price for our misdeeds that most of us do not realize we are paying. Maybe by doing the right thing and leaving Iraq to the Iraqi people we might find favor with our Creator and things might start turning around for us. Just maybe those Iraqis will honor their dead by building a peaceful society. If that were to happen, the sands that are soaked with American blood will have nourished hope in a place where there was none, and ultimately, that is why our service members give their lives. Thank you Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines for doing your duty and doing a damn fine job. I will never agree with the war you were forced to fight, but I will always believe in the Spirit that drives you to be who you are, thank you. May God have mercy on all parties involved.