I'm in a kind of weird mood right now. One of my nephews signed up for the Army National Guard about a year and a half ago. We all knew when he signed up that he would be shipped out relatively quickly and most likely to Iraq. His training took a lot of time (field medic and occupational therapy) so he stayed in the States a lot longer than most of us thought he would. Well, he is now in Iraq. He's probably been there a little over a week. You know the military, no firm answers on when's and where's. Now, I'm not a big fan of the war in Iraq and haven't been since about 2 weeks after the invasion. I have enough background in analytical chemical analysis to know how chemicals are detected in the environment. I knew relatively quickly that if we weren't finding traces of weapons of mass destruction by then, that they probably never existed. I know how easily modern instruments can detect concentrations in the parts per trillion (not million, not even billion, but trillion!).

So, I now have a nephew who is very motivated and pretty much pleased as punch to be going to another country to take part in a "war" (what do we call it now, since the Pres has declared it won?) that we never should have started, but we can't really abandon without causing more chaos, misery and destruction than we already have. How do I react? I want to be supportive of my nephew. He knew what he was getting into. He was not steered, cajoled or coaxed into it. He firmly believes in what is going on and that we (the US) are making a positive impact there.

All of this was different when it was "someone else's" family member. It is quite different when it is one of your own. Up until now, it has been fairly easy to listen to other people dissect the should have's and the could have's. The why's and the why not's. Now, however, those discussions have a lot more personal meaning. We are no longer talking about strangers or faces in someone else's pictures. We are talking about the little boy afraid of the water at the beach. We are talking about faces in my pictures.

I realize that my nephew chose this career. I am extremely proud of his choice and the man he has become. However, this whole situation sucks.