You can’t go home again

There’s endless talk these days, and it’s escalating as November approaches....about bringing home our troops.
A noble dream, but those who advocate it don’t venture a thought beyond that simple and heartfelt phrase. In fact, "home" may not mean home at all, but just a shift down to Kuwait for a spell or up to Afghanistan to relieve the tired fighters of the Taliban who are making a comeback there.

Or...

The troops may go off to Turkey or Germany or any number of other overseas bases. Of course that’s a good thing; any move to get out of that wretched and mind blowing Iraq turmoil is a plus.

Those few who do make it all the way back to the States for some R&R, will be comforted by families and friends, but those loved ones may find their brave soldiers a bit weathered by the strain...plagued, as are thousands, with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which, incidentally, the VA doesn’t recognize as a treatable disease!...and that salient fact can only add to their misery.

So these blank faced, shell shocked, twisted and disturbed young men (and women too), may find..as did many after Viet Nam...that they just can’t adjust to "normal" living. In many cases, of course, they may not have to face that challenge because George Bush and Rumsfeld will likely have more "heroic work" for them to tackle. Perhaps they’ll hit the sand in Iran and face a REAL Army for once. Or, they may be asked to occupy North Korea or Syria after some preemptive action. No matter what happens, the Bush administration isn’t about to let our military sit in idleness and sloth. Killing is what they do, and many actually look forward to more of it. They are the ones who will continue the fight for our corporate interests...for "truth, justice, and the American way".

They are the ones who will continue the good fight, for as our distinguished VP Dick Cheney said last week "Many Americans don’t have the stomach for it"

He ought to know.