Honoring Our Troops Is Bringing Them Home

Today our nation pauses to honor those brave American soldiers who have given their all in defense of our country and our freedoms. They deserve to be honored -- both the dead and the living.

But this year is special, in that we currently have soldiers in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is no secret that I oppose the Bush administration policy in Iraq, and I have since before he invaded that country. But regardless of what I think about the Bush administration and their multitude of failures, I respect the effort and the unchallenged bravery of our American troops.

Our troops cannot make policy. All they can do is serve honorably and do their duty as well as possible. I do not for a moment doubt that they have done this. They have earned the gratitude of all Americans.

It is Bush, Cheney and the neocons who deserve our emnity. They have placed our brave troops in a no-win situation. Because of his unwarranted invasion of a country that posed no danger to America, Bush has created a civil war and put our soldiers right in the middle of it.

Some have compared Iraq to Vietnam. I say Iraq is even worse for our soldiers. At least in Vietnam, our soldiers had a side to fight on. In Iraq, Bush has placed them in the middle of warring factions, all of which hate our troops and are trying to kill them.

The war between Iraq and the U.S. is long over. Now it has degenerated into a war between Iraqis, and since our soldiers cannot take sides in the conflict, we must get them out of it and bring them home. Truly, the best way to honor our troops in Iraq is to bring them home to their families.

The American people don't want our troops in Iraq. The Iraqis don't want us there either (except for the puppet government which will fall as soon as we leave). Bush, Cheney and the other neocons are the only ones who want to keep our troops dying over there, and that is just to salvage their own reputations. Personally, I don't think the reputations of these cowards is worth the life of a single American soldier!

Democrats recently had a chance to stand up for our soldiers and demand an end to the travesty in Iraq. Instead, most of them wussed out and allowed Bush to continue the war without restrictions or a timetable for withdrawal. Bush is going to be allowed to go on killing Americans and Iraqis now until at least September.

So far we have had 3,454 American soldiers killed in Iraq. Since February 1st of this year, we have had an average of more than 3 soldiers killed every single day. At this rate, there will be an additional 288 American soldiers killed by September. We cannot allow this to continue. The madness must stop!

The time for timetables has come and gone without action by either party. Timetables should not even be discussed in September. At that time, all funds for the war should be cut off, and Congress should demand our troops be brought home immediately. Anything less would be shameful!

I repeat -- the only way to honor our troops at this point is to bring them home to their families.