Whew!!

I stopped at a local watering hole on the way home. It was hot and a cold beer sounded good. The tavern was dark and cool, and nearly empty. I took a seat at the rear of the narrow bar, close to the television. CNN.
In just a few minutes, as if some unheard signal had sounded, the bar began to fill. I assumed it was the ‘just off of work crowd’. The stools and tables filled up quickly.
“Mind if we sit with you?”
I looked up to see a young couple, drinks in hand.
“Sure. Have a seat.”
They dropped down on the chairs opposite me and introduced themselves. After a few moments of awkward small talk their eyes turned to the television. Wolfe Blitzer in the Situation Room.
“So, what do you think of this war?” I asked.
“We support the troops.” the young woman replied.
“What’s that?”
“We support the troops.” she repeated, her partner nodding in agreement.
It’s a phrase I hear a lot, but don’t understand. “What does that mean?”
They stared at me, wide-eyed, but silent.
“I mean, specifically, what does it mean when someone says they support the troops?”
Silence.
“Well… Regardless of, you know… Regardless of what someone thinks about the war, you still have to support the troops.” the young man answered. This time the young lady was nodding her agreement.
I decided to nod in return. “But, what does that mean?”
Silence. Their faces flushed slightly as they looked at one another then back to me.
“Just curious.” I sipped at my beer.
“Do you support the troops?” the young lady asked, a bit defensively.
“Yes. I do. I definitely do.”
The woman’s eyebrows arched high on her forehead and she gave me a look that reminded me of the look my Grandmother would give me when I was a child. It was a combination “I told you so/There you go then” look. And, of course, if was accompanied by another slow nodding of her head.
“That’s why I think they should come home. Tomorrow. If not sooner.”
They stared at one another then back at me. They both frowned.
“You agree, don’t you? I mean, you said you supported the troops. Right?”
“I don’t know about that.” The young man looked thoughtful. “I mean…” He sighed.
“When we say we support the troops we mean that they should be given everything they need.” the woman interjected.
“Right.” the young man said.
“I agree. And what they need most is to come home.” I replied.
The young man grinned. “Just like that, huh? Just pack up and leave?”
“Pretty much.” I signaled the bartender for another round.
“But if we just leave… All those soldiers would have died in vain.”
“Soldiers never die in vain.” I replied. “They die following orders. They die defending themselves and their fellow soldiers. They die fulfilling their oath. They die doing what their country has odered them to do. But, they never die in vain.”
“But if we just… leave, then… What was the point of going over there in the first place?”
“Exactly. Good question. What was the point of going over there in the first place?” I asked.
“Oh, well…” He waved his hand in the air as if shooing a fly away. “I don’t get into politics. One side says this the other side says that…” He sighed again. “It’s confusing.”
“You can’t tell who’s telling the truth.” the young woman chimed in. “It is confusing. It gives me a headache.”
“I know.” I replied. “That’s why I think we need to bring our troops home now. Until we figure it out.”
“You know, I don’t think we’ll ever know the truth; never figure it out. It’s politics, you know?”
“Well, we can’t leave them there forever.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s depressing.” the young lady remarked.
I noticed an iPhone jutting up from her purse. “So what do you think of the iPhone?” I asked.
“I love it!” she exclaimed.
“It is fantastic!” her partner agreed.
They pulled their phones out and showed me the features. Their fingers moved quickly and I watched as they showed me pictures, browsed the internet, and tried to teach me about the operation of the sleek, shiny phone.
“It is impressive.” For some reason I began to grow depressed.
Three thousand six hundred plus Americans are dead. Tens of thousands wounded, maimed. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens dead. Twelve billion dollars a month spent on a war to which many are, sadly, indifferent.
I sipped at my beer and watched the young couple show me yet more features on their phones. It is a pretty slick gadget. I shook their hands, settled up with the bartender, and headed for home. I watched the pedestrian traffic as I strolled through the City. There was little that indicated we were a country at war, or that our government was spending us into an economic disaster. When did we become so casual, so cavalier, about something as devastating as war?
I thought of a blog post by a young soldier in Iraq. Basically, he just described his day. Tired, hot, always on edge. Never enough sleep. Scared and wanting to come home. Fiercely proud of his fellow soldiers and hoping no more buddies would be killed or injured. A hell of a situation to send a young man into. A hell of a situation to keep him in while we try to decide what we should do.
If Chelsea Clinton or the Bush girls were there, or even one of Romney's sons, would they still need to think much longer about what to do or how to do it? Doubtful.
We have abused those courageous enough to serve. Our government has abused them and betrayed them, and we as a nation have allowed it to happen. By our silence and indifference and fear we have allowed an ignorant cowboy and his cronies to have their way. We have allowed them to run roughshod over the Constitution and our civil liberties, wage war, and destroy our standards of morality by illegal imprisonment and the use of torture.
We should all be ashamed. But we should also all stand up and, finally, say “Enough.”