Forgive My Soapbox

So, maybe I shouldn't share my views or vent...but if not here, then where? Tonight I picked my kids up from daycare and there were two nice ladies and we got to talking. Their husbands are currently stationed in Afghanistan and as soon as they said that I instantly felt terrrible for them. I don't like the fact that Jaylon's in Iraq. It's dangerous. But it's not nearly as dangerous as Afghanistan and 5th Brigade has lost 15 soldiers since deploying in July. These ladies have children and they are worried about their husbands. I have several close friends who have husbands in Afghanistan and they are so worried about them. These ladies that I spoke with tonight said, "What are they doing there? Chasing after bad guys in caves? They weren't prepared for what's happening over there right now...I want them to come home." Now, to my point. Right before Jaylon left I asked what his brigade's overall mission was. Countless meetings and he couldn't tell me. These ladies were wondering what their husbands were doing over there...the whys, the whats, whatever. And then I get on my email and read this article. And I guess it just bugs me that a bunch of politicians get together and toss out numbers like 30-40,000 more soldiers like they're talking about jelly beans and not men and women and families being separated and lives being lost...and we (the families left behind) are asking each other what our spouses are even doing? They talk about "raising the troop level" as casually as raising the temperature in their office. And why do I get the sense that it's the expense that bothers them more than the actual cost to the families who have had deployed loved ones multiple times? There is something wrong with this picture. That's all. I'm not saying yay or nay about "the war." I just wish that when President Obama or Joe Biden or Senator what's-his-face get into a hemming and hawing debate about "adding more troops" they could have huge posters of the kids who are missing their dads in front of their faces...and maybe it would mean more than just ordering out more human beings to dodge faceless, cowardly terrorists who plant roadside bombs and then run and hide.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091001/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_afghanistan