Iraq...5 years later...

I remember that night 5 years ago when we decided to invade Iraq. I had been praying for days that Hans Blix and his UN team of inspectors would be given more time to find evidence of the Weapons of Mass Destruction that President Bush knew had to be there.

We had a Little League Baseball parent's meeting at St. Henry's Catholic Church in Gresham that night. My heart was heavy. Being in a church seemed fitting that night. I can pray anywhere, I know, but church adds to the experience to me.

Being at a meeting for my son made me wonder how this war would affect him. I didn't know if it would spiral out of control and bring the world down with it, or a long trudge. Would E have to go there when he turns 18?

Five years later. USA Today has a good article summarizing the war. Ups and downs. Currently a very tenuous up.

My old college buddy, Sam, and I meet a couple times a year to solve the worlds problems. He is a little to the right, and, well, I'm not. We both agreed that we would go in there quick, but it could take a long time to get out.

The war seems to be in a spin cycle...it keeps going but few of us pay attention to what is happening. Trying to figure out what's really happening over there is hard. I found this piece describing how the Kurds need the support of Turkey. The Kurds were once the darling of the US, but now our attention has turned toward the Sunni and the Shiites, trying to get a unifying force to grow.

Here's an article of an Iraqi general who first was ordered to oppose the US, then he fought with the US backed army to oppose the insurgents. He took a fall for bowing to pressure to open a bridge that had been closed to protect Shiite pilgrims. Mortars fell and over 1,000 died. He now lives in Egypt, nothing but loss to show for his best intentions.

Reconciliation in Iraq seems to be going better than rebuilding. Presidential candidate McCain sees us being there another 100 years. Hillary and Obama want to get everyone talking...let's get a solution worked out.

I don't really understand this war anymore than I understood the Vietnam war when I read the paper at age ten.

E will be 18 in five-and-a-half years. There is been no talk of bringing back the draft. I hope the don't.

Five-and-a-half years. Time enough to pray for the end of war so that I don' t need to have that painful talk with my son "I really don't want to see you go over there, but if you feel you need to..."

Please, God, please....