Who Owns the Wars

So, whose wars are they anyway? We're fighting two wars at the same time. In Afghanistan where we attacked the people who bombed, or at least planned the World Trade Centers and Pentagon bombings, and in Iraq where we attached a viciously cruel leader, we're fighting every day. Well actually "we" aren't really fighting. A lot of very good young men and women are fighting our fight for us. The thing is, most people don't even realize it, except in an abstract way, unless you know somebody over there. To be sure, lots of us know somebody over there, we may even know somebody who has been killed or wounded. But mostly we don't feel like we're at war with anyone. Why is that? How come so many young folks have taken up arms against an enemy that we don't know and don't seem to think about? Oh, we think about terrorism and the threat, real and imagined from terrorists. We think about terrorists when we see somebody dressed differently, which isn't a real threat, but do we understand what the real threat is? Well, again, only in the abstract. When's the last time you talked with a veteran of these wars? When's the last time you've discussed the ramifications of continuing or discontinuing our fight? What about the costs? In terms of the lives lost or destroyed and the wealth of our country spent? How is it that we feel we have the right to ask these young people to place themselves in harms way for ideals they may not understand? That may never have been explained to them? That we may not understand or may misunderstand? Who can answer these questions with any real authority? Usually I like to end up with some humorous line or two, but I just can't think of anything funny to say about this.