Driving To Kuwait

It is, of course, a big event when the last official US troops of the Second Iraq War drive out late at night down a long dusty road to the light up ahead.

It is also a matter of course that the United States HASN'T left Iraq altogether.  50,000 non-combat troops and support personnel remain in Iraq to assist in the transition to a self-governed state.  By no means is American commitment to Iraq over.

And the damage done by this Second Iraq War - thousands of Iraqi civilians tortured and killed, hundreds of American and Allied troops killed and wounded, thousands more scarred by war - won't fully be tallied for another decade.  If we're lucky.

The best we can hope is that with the United States officially ending their combat mission in Iraq, that some calm and common sense will pass among the Muslim and Arab peoples and reduce the Anti-American sentiments that allow Al Qaeda and their terrorist ilk to thrive.

If only we could bring some calm and common sense to the American shores and stop this goddamn crazy shit from consuming our time and efforts at home.  Damn it all...