A Little Bit of a Vent

I have been trying not to be a political person since the husband deployed. I have always tried to base my political views on reasoning and my core beliefs, rather than my own personal feelings. Right now politics is so focused on the war in Iraq that I have really tried to stop paying attention. The key word in all of this is tried. My big problem is that I am a news junkie. If I am sitting around cleaning or working on my computer I will almost always have the TV on CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC (I find that switching it up provides a more even picture of what is really happening in the world.).

Lately I have been failing at this goal. Every time that I hear about more troops being deployed to Iraq, tours being extended, or fights on capitol hill over our goals for this war (disguised as discussions over spending) I just get more and more angry. It is not that I particularly think one side is right or wrong. I think that hating Bush for getting us into this war is a waste of energy, we are in it whether it is for the right reasons or the wrong reasons. We need to look forward, I don't know what that forward should be, but we need to not only look but begin to move in that direction.

Every time that I see footage from the beginning of the war and realize that it was taken over four years ago, I just get angry. Every time I start to solidify my opinion one way or the other I see, hear or read some thing that makes me think about it even more. I know that I feel our troops are over extended. I may be wrong in this assumption and I do not claim to be an expert, however from what I have read and from my understanding of the mission and purpose of our reserve and national guard troops I truly believe that if there are National Guard and Reserve Units who are now being called up to serve a second tour in this war, we are too extended.

If there were a clear end in sight I don't think that this would be a problem in my mind, however as it sits right now I don't see us having a significantly decreased military presence in this region for a very long time. We all know that something needs to change. We cannot continue this strategy indefinitely. As for what needs to change I will be the first to admit that I don't know what that is. I am simply praying that our country's leaders are able to discern where we need to go from here.

I know that many do not believe that there is a God and that the phrase "In God We Trust" has become rather controversial. I believe with my whole self that there has to be something out there greater that ourselves, we may all understand it differently; for some it is the Christian/Jewish/Muslim God, for others it is just the belief in the collective human spirit. Whatever "God" it is that you believe in I think we all agree that now is when we need to put our trust in "god" more that ever. We need to trust that this higher power will guide us and our leaders to a solution that brings our troops home safe and brings some sense to stability to the middle east (or at least what stability can be created in a region that has been fighting literally since it was first inhabited by humans).

Thanks for putting up with my venting and only 73 more Tuesdays to go.