Thank you!

As we (rapidly) approach Christmas and the New Year, I tend to find my thoughts, especially when I’m reading the New York Times, to the soldiers fighting for our freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. These men and women volunteered for what could be the fight of their life. Selfishly putting aside their family and their lives back home, these brave warriors have gone in to the unknown to face the unknown. I can’t even imagine walking down the streets of Kabul or Baghdad on patrol and having to be on constant alert even if you’re surrounded by children the same age as your own. We live in a time where we are suspicious of everyone we come across, especially if they look different than we do; we shouldn’t be living in that world.

 

Since 9/11, America and the rest of the countries around the world are on constant alert. Terrorists have basically found a way to control the world and that is completely uncalled for. I’ll be one of the first to sound off and say that I vehemently oppose the war in Iraq, but at the same time I’m glad that Saddam isn’t in power any more. With Barack Obama having been elected as the next President of the United States and having so many countries support him as America’s newest leader, it gives me great hope. I think that we will be able to get a great deal of good things accomplished that were either put on the back burner with Bush II or that were never allowed to even be considered by the current administration.

 

Supporting the troops that are fighting for freedom against terrorism is one of the greatest things that anyone can do. These brave men and women deserve our respect and support and should never have to ask for it. With the level of troops spread thin enough already, I think it’s time that this country rethink the battles it gets itself involved in. I hope that the agreement between the Iraqi government and ours keeps true and we’ll see a troop reduction in Iraq soon. Hopefully when that happens, the military will start rotating troops out of Iraq in to Afghanistan where our focus should have been this entire time. Osama bin Laden was the one that attacked us on our own soil, not Saddam. It’s entirely possible that because of the war in Iraq, bin Laden was able to cross the mountains in to Pakistan and could now be hiding out there. Why our attention was diverted somewhere else in the first place still blows my mind. Shouldn’t we have “kept our eye on the ball” instead of getting distracted? We, as a country need to figure out a way to regain our status as a country with a revered military. Under President Clinton we went eight years without being involved in a war and now we find ourselves involved in two, one of which (like I said before) we shouldn’t have been involved in in the first place.

 

As many people struggle to find a way to give back this holiday season, I think that supporting our troops tends to get overlooked. Supporting our troops can be as simple as thanking a soldier for what they do, sending care packages or sending letters to the troops fighting overseas. Let us not forget, however, about the rest of the troops that we have stationed around the globe who are keeping the peace that we have already restored.

 

I hope you will join me in taking a stand and supporting the troops this holiday season. Thank you to all the men and women in and out of uniform for all that you have done; we truly appreciate it!!!