Why I don’t care about Iraq anymore (II): Was that war just a drunken hook-up?

If you didn’t read the entire discussion the other day about why Jim Gourley no longer cares about what happens in Iraq, despite having given a big part of his life there, do yourself a favor. Find a quiet place, sit down, and read all the comments. I think this is one of the best discussions I’ve ever seen on the blog. I learned. I appreciate people taking the time to write.

Here are some of the observations that struck me:

"CompanyGrade": "I would go back.  Not to revisit any achievement but for my wife.  Maybe it would explain to her all the things I’ve never been able to talk about."

"Mitch281": "’The reason my unit was so successful…’  I feel like every Joe says this about his battalion/brigade/regiment/division.  Few soldiers are going to publicly admit that their units spent 12 months not making much of a difference.  Even if it is true."

"AbrahamRash": "Like that drunken hook-up that you secretly know deep down inside is a bad idea even at the time you’re chasing after it, the morning after, you don’t even leave a note. You just walk. Just like Americans did with Iraq."

From our favorite Akademie: "I truly believe that our force protection policies have this (perhaps unintended) consequence of keeping us apart…… I am not arguing with Jim’s feelings, they are genuine and widely shared. I just don’t believe it had to turn out this way."

And always dependable Gourley also scored again with his slapshot response: "Iraq has already given and taken from me everything it’s going to."