When you have a few minutes go read this account by Hitchens. It brought me to tears.
A Death in the Family.
Jenny Hatch
PS In my school girl enthusiasm, I used to think that every patriot who fought in the Revolutionary War was as convicted and gung ho as George Washington. I even believed that every soldier who died was happy to go, knowing that he had fought for the most important cause humanity had ever engaged in.
When as an adult I began to read Biographies of Washington which painted a much more clear picture of reality, I was absolutely gobsmacked at the level of corruption, betrayal (Sure we all heard of Benedict Arnold), infighting, petty squabbles, and reversals that defined the Revolutionary War of America.
Yet aren’t we glad they persevered?
I believe our Iraqi friends, when looking back two hundred years from now will have a similar sense of purpose and vision, understanding that the cause of Freedom is ALWAYS worth the fight, and yes, the deaths that accompany the fight.