The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

This article contributed by The Cubicle Reverend

Pretty soon President Bush is going to be committing 20,000 for the war in Iraq. This announcement has made no one happy. Not the D's or the R's because depending on who you ask:

The peace nicks who believe we are living in the most oppressive regime in history cry out how we are committing atrocities against mankind and we must cut and run.

And the hawkish rogues who believe the president is the second coming say twenty thousand is enough for we must go onward and upward to fight for the cause.

Politicians, pundits, and preachers voices are being heard loud and clear. Yelling at each other like a group of children at a pizza joint trying to agree on what topping to have. Google Ward Churchill, Pat Robertson, Bill Maher, Rush Limbaugh or any other big time politico and sure you'll find verbal gas passing to stink up a room. And the irony is many of them are making these observations from the comfort of their homes. For whatever reasons the soldiers and Iraqis who are actually there are rarely heard from.

Over the past few months I've been meeting a lot of soldiers who've had varying lengths of tour of duty over in Iraq from a variety of ages and backgrounds. Whenever I asked about their experience they usually tell me the same thing:

“In spite of what you see on the news things aren't as bad as they make it seem. Is there violence, yes. Not nearly as much as others would like to have you believe. I just wish people would realize we have a job to do and we do not want to be pulled out until we are done.” I do not know if the Iraqis feel the same way or not. Has anyone ever bothered to ask them?

Hearing what the soldiers tell me how they feel made me less assured on my stance on the war. Having all these voices telling me what I should believe only makes me swing emotionally from one extreme to the other. I am starting to be more inclined to take the advice of the Florida Rep. in the video below. Caution, Belzer's language does tend to get a tad saucy.