War Takes It's Toll On Our Civilians Too!

I understand Karzai being concerned about the number of civilians being killed in the war. It is, however, part of the price. Civilians die.

We have our own issues with it. Often the aftermath of service. Something snaps, as happened with a 23 year old Iraq veteran in Michigan. A mother about to give birth, a 13 month old girl and three dogs perished before the young man took his own life.

As I watched the troops crossing the border into Kuwait last evening, I wondered how many of them will have trouble re-adjusting to civilian life. The life they're leaving behind in the war zone was one for which they were ill prepared before deployment. It's not the fault of their training, it's the manner of war. No human should be asked to do to another what is required by war. But we wage them never-the-less.

This young man enlisted before he had even graduated from high school. What could possibly have prepared him for what he would face. And then, free from the actual presence in it, something snapped. Who knows how frail the human psyche can be. How much with which one is able to cope.

Even the comics address it. Look at Wally Winkerbean. It gives you an idea. Every loud noise makes you jump, you wonder who in the crowd may be a suicide bomber. How do you shake it? You're home. You're safe. It doesn't always compute.

I know. I dated a Ranger who did three tours in Vietnam. He was, to put it mildly, a mess. The relationship didn't work out. I was afraid of him.

But a wife. A little girl. Dogs. The family support mechanism. No longer recognized, no longer trusted. Dead. Those are our civilian casualties. There are far too many of them.

To whom do we complain?