<p>On the first Memorial Day following the invasion of Iraq, a very dedicated veteran of a previous war put signs on the telephone poles up and down the main street of my small New England town. Each sign had the name, age, and hometown of soldier who died in Iraq. There was also a flag of the soldiers country attached to the sign as well. In the beginning, there were just a few hundred names and they covered the poles through the downtown area and stopped just outside of that area. As the war continued and the number of dead grew, the signs extended from one end of town to the other and went up around Memorial Day and then again at Veterans Day. Last year someone complained to Verizon, that they did want to drive through town and have to see those signs. For a brief time Verizon informed the person responsible that they would have to compensate the company $10 for every pole that a sign was on. It was pretty much a public relations fiasco, Verizon rescinded the demand and the signs have continued to appear at Veterans Day and Memorial Day. As I was driving back from the grocery store yesterday I saw that the signs now extend all the way into the next town and up several feeder roads to the main street. As you drive by you cant help but read the names of all the young men and women and imagine the overwhelming sadness their families must be feeling. By the time I got home I was in tears myself. I find it unfathomable that anyone truly thinks this war is winnable. I pray that we the voters send a message to the administration that we will not take it any more. Enough is Enough!</p>
<p>I grieve too…</p>
<p>unsoccer-mom,
Nice story. I think it’s good that someome cares enough to make this war public. Heaven knows - the media seem to think it is not a very important story to cover. </p>
<p>Our paper just ran a two page, color spread on the front page about an MIA veteran whose remains were just returned from Vietnam. But every story about Iraq is buried in the inside, with no photos, and no names. It must be terribly lonely to be a family with a loved one over there.</p>
<p>Your sign poster would have really had his hands full on June 7, 1944. Or early March, 1945. Nice gesture, I guess.</p>
<p>Nice try, driver! The veteran in question is a veteran of the Vietnam war not WWII and any discussion that tries to link this fiasco with WWII is way off base.</p>
<p>I think driver’s point was missed. </p>
<p>Don’t look for a complete pullout from Iraq even under a Democratic President with a Democratic-controlled Congress. If Iraq wasn’t a haven for terrorism pre-war, it will certainly be one if we leave it in chaos. I’m not addressing the debate about whether it was right or wrong to go into Iraq (my personal feeling is that it was a political loser and wrong), but the reality of what the situation is now. Punish the Republicans at the polls if you want, but nothing will change regardless of who is in charge.</p>
<p>I am certain driver made that point many times before, but if an attempt was being made here it was beyond oblique to completely obscure. BTW, do I think that things will change overnight with the Dems in charge? NO! But that’s not really my point.</p>
<p>true unsoccer-mom…about your point. The loss of life is very sad and I don’t mean to minimize that at all. </p>
<p>I may be wrong but I think driver’s point is that no war is without this particular sadness. It’s unavoidable and a burden our soldiers have assumed in our behalf. My point is that is simplistic to declare “enough is enough” without appreciating how difficult it is to extricate ourselves from the Iraq war. And honestly, any future American leader will undoubtedly accept that some level of American presence in the Middle East will be necessary.</p>
<p>
Yes, that was part of my point, along with the fact that there weren’t enough telephone poles to go around after D-Day and Iwo Jima—let alone enough concerned sign posters to keep up with all the names.</p>
<p>
I agree. You might like to read about how some soldiers view Iraq.
<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/05/AR2006110500770_pf.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/05/AR2006110500770_pf.html</a>
It may be hard for some people to swallow, but those actually fighting the war in Iraq seem to feel they are there for a good reason.</p>
<p>if you ask the soliders, they are often feeling aloyalt to their commrads that are there, and that loyalty is what keeps them strong, but if you ask about progress, you wll see a frustration</p>
<p>and their hardwork is ALREADY for naught, going in without a plan on leaving was just ludicrous</p>
<p>weren’t we told this would go for maybe 6 months?</p>
<p>not the soldiers fault, nope, bad leadership all around, you think the army papers are asking for rumsfeld’s dismissal because t is going peachy?</p>
<p>
No we were not. What makes you think that?</p>
<p>Cheney described it as a cakewalk…a few weeks, or months at most…</p>
<p>If there is anyone here that thinks this is a winnable, just war then they should be willing to put their lives on the line. If I had been a mother during WWII, I would have willingly approved of my son going. But I would drag him out of this country to another before I would let him fight to “liberate Iraq”. I am sure you think it is naive of me to think in “simplistic” terms that we need to change direction. Personally, I think anyone who thinks we can get a better result by continuing this invasion is naive and it is naive to think that all Iraq vets support this lunacy. Link below to a group of activist Iraq vets against the war.</p>
<p><a href=“Search | Iraq Veterans Against the War”>Iraq Veterans Against the War | You are not alone;
<p>And why they are against the war.</p>
<p><a href=“Search | Iraq Veterans Against the War”>About | Iraq Veterans Against the War;
<p>I don’t really see this as a war anymore, rather a poorly thought-out and administered occupation of a war-torn country. Occupations are not what our soldiers were trained to handle, IMO. They are doing the best they can but it just seems to get worse day by day.</p>
<p>Well, I guess it’s a good thing you’re not in the military.</p>
<p>The war is over, per Army recruiters</p>
<p><a href=“http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/cameras-show-army-recruiters-misleading/20061103145309990002?ncid=NWS00010000000001[/url]”>http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/cameras-show-army-recruiters-misleading/20061103145309990002?ncid=NWS00010000000001</a></p>
<p>It’s been over since we declared victory in 2003. The civil war there is just a bad by-product of our victory.</p>
<p>“It may be hard for some people to swallow, but those actually fighting the war in Iraq seem to feel they are there for a good reason.”</p>
<p>Yes, at least as of last March 85% of them still thought Sadaam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. from <a href=“http://consortiumnews.com/2006/030406a.html[/url]”>http://consortiumnews.com/2006/030406a.html</a></p>
<p>Halp us, Mathmom, we R Stuck Hear N Irak
Sounding kind of Kerryish, there. Polls are funny things in this day and age, as we will find out tomorrow.</p>