Where do you stand on Iraq?

I respect the military and their families. Let me say thank you. I don't listen to the news or all these politicians. I listen to the soldiers, the ones who actually knows whats going on. Every soldier That I have seen interviewed or that I have asked believes in what we are doing over there. They have seen a positive outcome and most don't regret their service over there. My cousin came back from Iraq and can't wait to go back.

I was a military wife during the Vietnam war and my husband spent time over there with the Air Force in Air Rescue. The one thing they would not let them do then was win the war. The military came home to face worse than the war. They weren't welcomed as heros. It was terrible. Today, we are in Iraq. I hate that we have lost so many young people, but if we weren't there, I'm afraid we might be fighting the terrorists in our country already. I've heard so many young military men say that the surge has worked over there and they are proud to be serving their country. I try not to listen to the nay sayers. Many of those have never served their country. When my husband went in, it was through the draft, although when drafted, he went to the board and joined the Air Force. It was during a war and he knew he would probably be going over there, but he wanted to do something he knew. He was a mechanic on helicopters in the Air Force and they did air rescue. It was a very dangerous job. But I have never heard him say he was sorry he went. He knew it was his duty and the thought every young man should have to go through the basic training. It teaches all to be men! And I think, when a young man/woman chooses to go into the military, fully knowing that they may go to war, they should be commended! Some people have yet to understand these young people chose their profession; it wasn't forced on them like it used to be. I thank God for every man/woman that is serving our country now or has in the past. They are the reason we still have freedom in the LAND of the FREE, the USA!

I too am a military spouse, although my husband is an Air Force mechanic, so he did not see any combat, nor has he been to Iraq. I believe that there are aspects of the war in Iraq that could have been handled better - the public feels they have been lied to, and the media is doing little to correct that - in fact, they encourage it. There are many people in the military that know WAY more about what's going on over there than the media is sharing, and it's not QUITE the disaster many believe. Saddam had WMD's; he jerked us around for years about those stupid things. He would never directly comply with what he was told he needed to do. It's like he enjoyed toying with us. Granted, he had PLENTY of time to sell/get rid of/hide those suckers, so it's entirely possible that by the time we went over there, he DIDN'T have them anymore. But because he was not direct with us, we couldn't know that for sure. After 9/11, we didn't want to take chances anymore, so we went to straighten him out. Personally, I feel that by taken out Saddam and his sons and their regime, we got the biggest WMD's in that country - the things they were doing to their own people is just horrible and should not have been adibed as long as it was. Honestly, we should have just stayed over there and straightened him out the first time! Don't misunderstand - I don't like war. I wish the troops could all come home. But if they were all to come home now, everything we've accomplished over there would be for nothing, because it would fall apart - there's still too much instability. I say good on us for a seeing terrible injustice done and stepping in to fix it.