We have always had people that were against any war, and history shows that despite the existence of these anti-war activists, the casualty lists just grow and grow. One can argue about whether a particular conflict is just, makes any sense to be involved, or whether we should just be isolationists and let the rest of the world kill each other. If our head is in the sand, maybe the evil people won't notice us.

History as shown us, however, that if we had taken a neutral position in the world, many more people would have died, and eventually, the brutality of war would reach our shores anyway. One might recall the the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the terrorists attacked us on 9/11, and of course the Germans attacked our shipping prior to WW2, and were working on long range bombers, rockets, and planning an atomic bomb  to attack us during WW2.

So much for the isolationists, or the pick and choose patriots. In America we elect people to represent us, and deal with the international issues that might effect us. While I concede that our system of representation leaves must to be desired, it is what we have signed up for. Partisanship aside, it is the job of the President to do what is necessary to protect our way of life in America. Unfortunately,  no president is clairvoyant, so we are dependent upon many other people to collectively determine the risks and strategies necessary to maintain our freedom. The sum total of security advisors, intelligence agencies, the military, and committees of Congress are the best we can do. Sometimes they are right, and sometimes they are wrong.

Since 9/11 we have had various groups that were against the war in Iraq. Their problem is that the collective intelligence as described above felt that it was in our best interests to pursue the threats posed by evil people in Iraq and Afganistan. Over the 5+ years of these conflicts, about 4000 American military personnel have lost their lives. One is too many, but when the well being of 300 million Americans is in the balance, 1 or 4000 is not the issue. The issue is THE PRICE OF FREEDOM- not only for us, but for the millions of people that were persecuted under the Taliban and Sadaam Hussein. Additionally, a state of terrorism has existed against Israel for the last 60+ years, while Iran directly supports Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist groups that exist to eliminate Israel, our main ally in the area.

But to look at this as the only issue in the area is narrow minded. While many do not like to admit it, there is a component of the issue which is about oil. The civilized world is highly dependent upon oil for a variety of essential products. Gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel fuel, heating oil, plastics, medicines, and more things that you could imagine. So therefore it is in our interests to have available oil from a stable world area at affordable prices. There is nothing wrong with this, it is part of living on this planet. Some might say, lets just get our own oil into higher production levels, which is fine. But you don't do it overnight, and our representative that should have been encouraging the expansion of our own energy capacity, have done the opposite. I don't have to tell you who the main roadblocks to this policy were and are, but you can bet that the main obstructionists were Democrats.

So enough blather. Let's get on with the page. The first item to look at is a chart of military casualties in our history. They are the people that paid the price of freedom for all Americans since the formation of our country.

These men and women are fighting and dying to protect you, your family, your freedom, and the freedom of people that have endured evil for most of their lifetimes. . Have it in your heart to respect their service to their country.