Operation Iraqi Freedom... over.

The Iraq war is over. I've been thinking about it, trying to understand how I feel, trying to process the past 8 years in a way that conveys how much was lost compared to how little I feel was gained.

My father fought in the first Gulf War. And as I grew up, he went other places, but for some reason I never thought about it. He was one of the first in Afghanistan and went to Iraq for OIF as well. My friends died in Iraq, I lost so many people I loved there. I worked at LRMC, watching Vets suffer from so many different wounds and causes. I wondered how to keep strong then and now, I wonder how to validate all the costs versus the rewards. Are there any rewards when we leave a war as if we never did anything at all?

Yes, we got some justice for the people of Iraq who were persecuted and killed relentlessly by Saddam. And yes, we captured alot of insurgents and put them away, allowing a new government to form in it's place, mildly corrupt versus the outlandishly corrupt one that stood before. Yes, we built schools, roads, hospitals, gave the Iraqi people more freedom than they had known in Saddam's time. I just wonder for the American men and women who served and died, what did we gain? People claimed we fought for oil but, like most conspiracies, that one died on it's own path. They claimed we were the corrupt ones and we weren't. People protested the wars and the funerals of our Soldiers and Marines, Sailors and Airmen. People wasted their right to freedom and abused it by slandering the names of the men and women, blaming them for the war in the first place.

I have always said if you disagree with war, you should still support the men and women fighting it. They didn't choose a war to start but they sure as hell were going to fight to win. I just wonder where the win is, if there is any at all. It's a solemn feeling, remembering those that died in combat and those that came home and died by their own hand due to the PTSD they suffered from unseen war wounds. I pray it's worth it.

Even Steve wonders if it was worth everything. We talked about it and both of us feel this uneasy feeling about leaving. Hoping we didn't leave too soon, hoping the evil doesn't sprout from the ground where good men fought and died. Hoping that the loss of life is worth the freedom for the children that will grow up there. Will they know how much we fought for? Will the Iraqi people forgive us for our wrongdoings, when we obviously are not perfect, and thank us for our actions that were just and mighty? So many questions still linger as there is no longer a war in Iraq to fight. So many possibilities, bad and good, fill a future that no one can know.

As I think about the loss and the ending of a war, I hope you remember the Troops who fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Whatever happens, remember them and their families. This War cost more than just money, it cost lives and it cost people innocence. Children grew up faster because their fathers went to war, Children became adults when they recieved the news from the Military that their loved one was dead. Wives became widows, husbands became widowers. Mothers and fathers became childless. Pets became ownerless. That's the true cost of war. Please remember them.