December 22, 2004

Families anxious for news from Iraq

Brothers, wives and mothers in Virginia waited anxiously for news of their loved ones stationed in Mosul, Iraq, where a large explosion shredded their tented mess hall yesterday, leaving dead and injured in pools of blood.

Families probably will be notified today or tomorrow, tragically close to Christmas, about whether their relatives died or were injured in the horrific attack.
[I know your prayers conveying your sorrow and sympathy and asking that the bereaved be sent a Comforter were sent up with mine starting yesterday. Let's keep up coming.--Jen]

Soldiers from the Virginia National Guard Battalion were just sitting down for lunch with members of the Washington state-based Stryker Brigade, Iraqi national guard and U.S. civilian contractors when the blast struck.
[Re American civilian contractors: 4 employees of the supposedly-evil Halliburton were among the dead.--J.T.]
[...]
 President Bush yesterday expressed "sorrow and sadness" over the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Mosul, but urged family members not to lose sight of the importance of establishing democracy in Iraq.
    
"I just want them to know that the mission is a vital mission for peace," he said after visiting wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. "The idea of a democracy taking hold in what was a place of tyranny and hatred and destruction is such a hopeful moment in the history of the world."
    
But Mr. Bush acknowledged that this holiday season particularly will be a time of sorrow for the families of troops killed in yesterday's attack on a mess hall tent near Mosul.
   
 "Any time of the year, it's a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life," he said outside the hospital, where he was accompanied by first lady Laura Bush. "This time of year is particularly sorrowful for the families as we head into the Christmas season.
[Having lost my dad at Christmas, I know how true this is and given that Christmas is a time for joy and merriment, it makes feeling sadness, sorrow and loss that much worse, it seems.
There's never a "good time" for our fine men and women to be killed in battle, but I know it will be even harder for the families and loved ones of yesterday's fallen to hear this news.
May God be with them and hold them all in the palm of His hand, especially the little ones.
This is why Christ came to us, though, to overcome Death and the grave.--Jen]

"We pray for them," he added. "We send our heartfelt condolences to the loved ones who suffer today."
    
Despite the tragedy, Mr. Bush made it clear that he has no intention of pulling troops out of Iraq.
    
"This is a very important and vital mission," he said. "I'm confident democracy will prevail in Iraq. I know a free Iraq will lead to a more peaceful world."
[...]
The 276th Engineer Battalion/Virginia National Guard, a unit that can trace its lineage to the First Virginia Regiment of Volunteers formed in 1652, had been getting ready to come home early next year after long grueling months in Iraq.
    
George Washington and Patrick Henry were two of the unit's early commanders. Henry created the unit's motto, "Liberty or Death."

"Give me liberty or give me death."--How appropriate.
Our soldiers and citizens were murdered by an IslamoFacist suicide bomber and what the IslamoNazis hate really is Liberty, whether it be in Iraq, Afghanistan, France or right here in America.
These casualties of war, as despiccable and horrifying as they are, shouldn't be used as the excuse for the US and her allies to "pull out" of Iraq; quite the contrary.
So that the deaths of our troops and civilian contractors who are rebuilding Iraq won't be meaningless and towards the end that we're wiping out Islamist terrorism and murder in Iraq before it can fester and reach into the USA again, we have every reason to stay the course and pursue freedom and democracy in Babylon with everything we've got and do that we must, as President Bush and our soldiers already know.
My first thought when I heard of the attack most certainly wasn't "The U.S. should pull her troops out of Iraq." but instead that the viciousness of these murders showed how badly the Evildoers don't want that democratic election to take place in Iraq next month.
As PM Ayad Allawi says in Thursday's (tomorrow's) WSJ: "Ballots will prove to be more powerful than bullets."

We can all pitch in here on the homefront, though and help these military families stay in touch with their loved ones in the military by donating to Operation Uplink, a terrific program of the VFW's to support our troops in a meaningful way and a worthy recipient of your Christmas and end-of-the-year, tax-deductible giving dollars.