The cost of War

I recently read the 'fictional' memoir of a Vietnam soldier titled The Things They Carried by Tom O'Brien with friends in my book group. Most of them found it too gruesome and painful to read the entire book. Many of them have children that are draft age and/or in the military. During our discussion no one pondered the larger question, "Why have we as a nation continued to invade nations and begin wars such as the current one in Iraq?" The war in Iraq has some obvious similarities to the Vietnam War. The most obvious similarity is that our young men and women are dying--and more and more each day.

In today's New York Times, is the story of a medic in Iraq.

What have we learned about the cost of war in these past decades?
Not much, I guess.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/world/middleeast/02medic.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

I pray for these soldiers. I pray for their safety and I pray they can come home before they die.