Host, sorry to have condemned you after just one reading of your original post. I should have gone back and read it more than once, even though it (as usual with your posts) has so much crap attached to it that it makes my eyes bleed.
I am with you in your desire to praise your step son, Host. He is serving his country with honor and distinction, regardless of the politics at work. That is what a soldier/sailer/airman/marine/coastguardman is trained to do. That is why he is doing what he is doing, nothing more, nothing less.
I think what you are looking for, personally, is a set of facts that can help you support him, giving you an intellectual basis for your support. Given your political views, my friend, I do not think you will be able to find one. You are convinced that President Bush is wrong and his prosecution of this war is wrong, so it is a lost cause on this front.
The only path that remains for you is to support him on the basis of what is evident:
1. There are those who want to destroy the US and democracy
2. Our military is what keeps these people from succeeding
3. He is part of what keeps us safe
Therefore, he is worthy of our support. I know there are questions about what Iraq means in the GWOT, but Osama himself said that it is the place of WWIII, and since he has pretty much been accurate so far, I think we should believe him. It's best that we (the US) be on top of things there, than be underneath them and lose out in the end.
Host, I know it is difficult for you and your wife to come to terms with all it means for your son to be in such a dangerous place. I remember when my brother was in the Marine Corps when President Carter ordered the rescue of the Iranian hostages, and my brother was next up for getting on a helicopter. It's an awful feeling, that a family might be called upon to give the ultimate sacrifice of their loved one.
But I would like to ask this - what if Iraq becomes a budding, flourishing democracy? What if it spreads to the rest of the Middle East? What if the Middle Eastern countries as a whole become our true allies? How would that translate into world peace, in these days of Islamic Extremism?
Wouldn't your stepson view his service as being "worth it"?
Just a though, my friend.
