<p>By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | May 15, 2007</p>
<p>Boston University professor Andrew J. Bacevich has been a persistent, vocal critic of the Iraq war, calling the conflict a catastrophic failure. This week, the retired Army lieutenant colonel received the grim news that his son had been killed on patrol there.</p>
<p>First Lieutenant Andrew J. Bacevich , 27, of Walpole, died Sunday in Balad of wounds he suffered after a bomb explosion, the military said yesterday. The soldier, who graduated from BU in 2003 with a degree in communications, is the 56th service member from Massachusetts to be killed in Iraq.</p>
<p>His father, a veteran of the Vietnam and Gulf wars, has criticized the war in his writings and described President Bush’s endorsement of such “preventive wars” as “immoral, illicit, and imprudent.”</p>
<p>That is very sad to hear. I can’t imagine how devastating it must be for parents to get news like that. Main reason I decided against the military was the endless worrying it would put my parents through. I hope the BU family helps him through that</p>
<p>I have one son at BU and another with the Army infantry in Iraq. Every day I ask G-d to keep him safe. He says it’s quiet and peaceful where he is.</p>
<p>The news was withheld from Bacevich’s class which took a final yesterday.</p>
<p>Yes, I will definitely keep you son in my prayers as well. As goes with anyone whose child is out there so far away. Two of my best friends decided against college and went straight to the Marines. At first I could not understand their decision but it was something they both truly wanted to do. They are back now and finally starting to settle into their lives back at home and they have gaining something invaluable during their time in Iraq and their overall time in the Marines: The respect and admiration of all who look upon them and know what they have done. They have brought such a great sense of honor, bravery, and respect to their families and themselves that will never fade because no one will forget that they put their lives on the line for us. I worried about them constantly while they were gone for months at a time as I’m sure it must be so difficult waiting for your son to come home. But don’t worry, he will come home safe, a man of honor and dignity that people will respect without question. That is a gift that no man can buy no matter how much money they have, and it is a gift that only a select few will ever experience. You must be very proud.</p>
<p>Because if you believe that he will not come home safe, how can you possibly live your life? My mom’s friend, the mother of the twins I mentioned, was worried sick. We all were. She thought they were both going to end up getting killled over there. She thought about it so much that she convinced herself of it. That is not the attitude that a loved one should have. There needs to be a common faith that everything will turn out all right. Everyone needs to support each other in that belief. Obviously the “don’t worry” part is just an expression. My friends’ parents were worried sick. I was worried sick. But we never strayed from the belief that both would come home safe.</p>
<p>We all fervently wish for his (and everyone’s) safe return. But “don’t worry” is not just an expression, its delusional. I do not think the 3,000 who did not return failed to do so because their loved ones had insufficient “faith that everything will turn out all right.”</p>
<p>Well by that logic. Do absolutely nothing because nothing we do here can change what happens there. Sure, thats the cynical way to look at it and thats technically true. I take it that you do not have family or close friends fighting in the war. If you did, then I think you would understand the power to assuage fear that a little collective faith has. Sure, that faith doesn’t actually protect anyone, but it at least calms the nerves and allows people to live their lives. To become enslaved by fear is not healthy for anyone. Of course people should worry, but not let their fear consume them.</p>
<p>Actually, what we can do here is continue to work to have these young men and women come home as soon as possible. Personally, I think that will save many more lives than “collective faith”. And those who continue to piously enable this immoral, illicit, and imprudent war are the cynical ones.</p>
<p>You are so right about that. I’ve been attending as many on-campus protests that I can and trying to rally people in my local area. I just feel like all our voices are being ignored though. I wish there was some better way to have an impact</p>
<p>If one counts the severely wounded (brain trauma, amputees, etc.) in addition to those killed - that’s about 10,000 who haven’t made it home “safely.”</p>
<p>Add about another thousand for US contractors killed thus far.</p>
<p>Platitudes get us nowhere. They keep us in LaLaland, where we are fighting a big, bad boogieman, instead of putting our soldiers in harm’s way, smack dab in the middle of a sectarian civil war.</p>
<p>kinsasha: What is your opinion of this war? What will it accomplish? Do you think it will eliminate terrorism or increase terrorism? What does your son think? Just wondering. I will keep him in my prayers. God bless the soldiers.</p>
<p>I feel this war is wrong–the Bush administration will go down in history right after (or before) Warren Harding. It will take years to undo the harm he has done to the U.S.'s reputation. But I am very proud of my son who has struggled for years. MomofWildChild will know what I mean. He is 24, took some college classes, had menial jobs, and seems to finally feel like he belongs. He was one of the top two basic training graduates. The military has always fascinated him. When he was little we used to call him “the general.” G-d willing he will be home for a couple of weeks in August. </p>
<p>We have learned about some of the wonderful things his company is doing to help the villagers. It is a symbiotic relationship.</p>