Remember the 4,000

Last Thursday marked the five year anniversary since the United States-led an invasion of Iraq by a multinational coalition made up of U.S. and UK troops supported by smaller contingents from other nations. The mission, to uncover weapons of mass destruction that were believed to be in the hands of the Iraqi government, then headed by Saddam Hussein.

It's no secret that this war is one of the most controversial subjects, around, it's also one of the top issues for the current presidential candidates. For Senators Clinton and Obama it's an easy answer - pull out. For Republican John McCain it's about staying in and getting the job done, even if it takes one hundred years.

You may have heard, "There's no reason to be over there, they didn't find anything, it should no longer be on Americas agenda." Or even, "You say we're over there to fight against those who would do us harm, but I feel no safer now then since 9/11." Etc. As of yesterday, 4,000 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. That's over twice as many lives lost on September 11. That's 4,000+ more families grieving for a loved one. That's 4,000 soldiers who won't be coming home. That's 4,000 more reasons to end the war. But perhaps the most important, it's 4,000 lives that were lost dying for your safety.

Like I stated above, some people think that we are no more safer now then we were in 2001. But to those people I ask, how many 9/11's have we had since? That's right, I just gave you 4,000 reasons why we haven't seen another loss since. Now unless I've missed some terrorist attack, I think I'm right when I say this war is working. For any tragedies this country has seen in the past few years, have not come from the Middle East but instead from our own backyard. So now I ask this question, how can we fight for our safety in another country when we have a few things to work out here at home?

Even if we don't pull out there's always going to be a threat. We can sugar coat reality as much we want but it's not going to change anything. So what do we do? I don't know. But for now we can remember what those who have died were fighting for. So remember the 4,000.