Everyone Was Asking, "Am I Next?"

After a mild critique of Washington Post reporter Amy Scott Tyson in the previous post, I want to be quick to offer this follow-up of praise. As I was finishing my "catching up" reading today, I came across another story by Ms. Tyson. In this telling of events she masterfully condenses the complexity of loss that overwhelms an overworked unit of soldiers on duty in Ramadi. This is a story not to be missed, a story that may make a war too easily distanced more real in the reading.

New York Times reporter Bob Herbert writes here to an idea alongside this story in suggesting (in harmony with my often emotionally charged sentiments) that those who give support for the war in Iraq might best measure their conviction with a consideration of sending their own children into service. It is so much easier to think impersonally about "good causes." Herbert's editorial prompts a more searching reflection.

Finally, Beth Quinn of the Times Herald-Record writes from the shadow of the Downing Street Memo fiasco to challenge our president not only to a greater level of integrity but to a humane level of compassion for the families of those who are dying to defend what was now so obviously an international violation of law. Go here to read her words and those she was privileged to share.