5 years ago today, on Thursday, May 1, 2003, after making 2 fly-bys from the co-pilot's seat of a Navy S-3B Viking jet fighter, President George W. Bush landed on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln off the shore of California &, under the infamous Mission Accomplished banner proclaimed, "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended."
Five years & 4,064 US military deaths (and multiple thousands of Iraqi deaths) later, per ICasualties.org, we are still mired in Dubya's War Without End, and we're all left to wonder just what the Shrub's idea of "major combat operations" is. Considering his obvious aversion to reality that doesn't suit his political goals, in his "mind," I'm sure he sees no contradiction. I guess, in comparison, John I hope that, today at least, each of keeps in our minds & in our hearts the brave soldiers who have, as President Lincoln once said of fallen heroes from an earlier time, given "the last full measure of devotion". I pray, too, that the families of these heroes are able to find a measure of peace in the loss of their loved ones, knowing how much the rest of us--regardless of our stance on this war--appreciate & honor their most noble sacrifice.
Speaking for myself, it is the war I hate, not the warriors.
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