Year Six of Iraq From a California Mom: Bring Our Troops Home to Our Loving Arms

We're weary as a nation now. It's been five full years of this stupid, wasteful, ill-conceived, poorly-managed, deception-clad war, and we can count almost four-thousand Branden Oberleitners. At least, we think so. We're still never allowed to see that part of it. The best we get are newsreels of John McCain on a sunny tour of Iraq, confusing which enemy segment is where, and unable to revisit that nice open-air market this time (too dangerous, he was told). There's scarcely even any coverage of the continuing death toll in the media anymore. That doesn't mean it doesn't still happen. Some of us are hoping the escalation, the so-called surge, in Iraq is working to validate their long-term faith-based beliefs that things are better over there now because of what we did. Besides, our president says it's even sort of romantic - fighting over there. He also once said that the moment the Iraqi people wanted us to leave, that's what we'd do. At this war anniversary, majorities of Iraqis tell pollsters that is what they want. General William Odom says funding for the occupation should be stopped (and Bush and Cheney impeached). And a former Iraqi government figure told a British newspaper earlier this week that live overall was better under Saddam Hussein.

We will soon be marking the four-thousandth American casualty from this war we were lied into waging. It will only take a few days before we're there. Ask Dick Cheney about the consistently large numbers of us who want America out of there and now believe the war wasn't worth it, and his generous, considerate response is - "so?" Who cares, I guess, how many more Branden Oberleitners there will be? I never knew Branden Oberleitner, but I feel almost as though I did. Even if Cheney doesn't care so much, I mourn Branden's loss as a mom, and pray for continued comfort for his mother. And I resolve not to stay silent about the war or my adamant, ongoing opposition to it.

If you REALLY care about our troops, whether you want them out of that dead-end hell hole over there or not, then support them. As we limp into Year Six, listen to their families. Listen to those mothers' voices on the air - who want nothing more than to hear from their precious son or daughter - missing and/or incommunicado on the front lines. That's the only clear picture anyone among the rest of us will get, to illuminate even a small part of their sacrifice. And honor those who DO want this ended, and ALL our loved ones back in our arms here at home.

For more information, visit www.militaryfamilies4peace.org or www.mfso.org.

Mary Lyon is a veteran broadcaster ad five-time Golden Mike Award winner, who has anchored, reported, and written for the Associated Press Radio Network, NBC Radio "The Source," and many Los Angeles-area stations including KRTH-FM/AM, KLOS-FM, KFWB-AM, and KTLA-TV, and occasional media analyst for ABC Radio News. She began her career as a liberal activist with the Student Coalition for Humphrey/Muskie in 1968, and helped spearhead a regional campaign, "The Power 18," to win the right to vote for 18-year-olds. She remains an advocate for liberal causes, responsibility and accountability in media, environmental education and support of the arts for children, and green living. In addition to OpEdNews, Mary writes for Democrats.us, World News Trust, and WeDemocrats.org's "We! The People" webzine. Mary is also a parenting expert, having written and illustrated the book "The Frazzled Working Woman's Practical Guide to Motherhood."