I was against the Iraq War from the beginning. I wanted us to focus all our energies on AFghanistan. I thought perhaps if we really did benefit that country, it would effect people in Iran and they would press their government for democratic reforms. I was furious when Friedman joined the prowar bandwagon, advising us to fasten our seatbelt because it was going to be a bumpy ride. If it was a rollercoaster for us, what was it going to be for the Iraqis? The giddy prowar fervor seemed like something out of a Marx Brothers movie.

I remained adamantly against this war until this past semester when I had a quiet, 46 year old Hispanic woman in my GED class whose husband had volunteered to change his status from National Guard to fulltime ARmy after 9/11. He was pushing fifty, but he wanted to protect this country for his children and grandchildren. He became a squandron commander in Iraq with 299 young people under his command. Patricia amazed me throughout the semester with her quiet ability to make other people's lives better without ever imposing or leaving them in her debt. She made friends with the young woman who could not do math and they began studying together outside the classroom. SHe broguht new baby clothes for the woman nearing term. SHe had been head cashier for Furr's for 13 years where she brought birthday and anniversary presents and offered friendship to the elderly clients who frequented the cafeteria. WHen she announced she was leaving because she had raised her kids and she wanted to finish her GED and attend college, thousands of dollars of un solicited donations came in to help her realize her dreams. I paid close attention when she came in with stories of how her husband was faring in Iraq.

The news wasn't good. The fighting was intense where he was (he couldn't disclose his location). The young kids who were his soldiers were dying. There were chlorine bombs with toxins you couldn't smell so you didn't know when you were breathing them. Young soldiers were falling ill of blood poisoning. Her husband was fiercely devoted to his young soldiers and felt distraught and responsible when they died. Patricia believed in his mission. "They're protecting us, Miss. We don't want to have to live in a country like Iraq." The objective side of me wanted to know, "WHo said we had to? WHo said that was ever the choice?" But Patricia is such a deeply moral person, I began to see things more from her viewpoint.

Patricia's husband came home for two weeks in March to celebrate their anniversary. He was very ill. He was too weak to get out of bed, and couldn't keep down any food. They admitted him to a nearby hospital because it was an emergency. They diagnosed him with blood poison and declared him much too ill to return to Iraq. The Army was furious when they learned he had gone to a civilian hospital. They took him to a VA hospital where the doctor told him he was a malingerer and he needed to get back to his unit. Patricia faxed his medical records to his commander in Iraq. They were on the phone twice a day telling him to get his ass back to Iraq immediately. His unit needed him. The commander of his National Guard unit told him not to go. "The Army doesn't care about you. They just need a warm body. They can't get troops over there. Listen to your civilian doctor. He's telling you the truth." Patricia's husband decided to go back because he didn't want to go AWOL and he wanted to be with his troops. They discovered how ill he was when he arrived in Iraq and couldn't leave the plane without assistance. Within a few days he was in the infirmary and a few weeks after that he was in a hospital in Kuwait. They called Patricia and asked if his will was in order. They said it didn't look like he was going to make it. They were going to fly Patricia over at the end of the month to be with him and take his body back.

I think of that when I read about the heroic efforts they're making to rescue the kidnapped soldiers.

I want a bipartisan effort to find some kind of positive outcome in Iraq. I think the administration seems willing now to negotiate with Iran and Syria. I wish they would send Gov. Richardson to do the negotiating. I never asked the soldiers to go over there and risk their lives for me. I never wanted them to. But I understand now that they were motivated by their deep love for this country and their desire to protect what they love. I don't admire Democrats who just want to see Bush humiliated in Iraq and aren't willing to take part in what could possibly be fruitful discussions. Gov. Richardson is a highly effective pragmatist. I'm sure he would take part in discussions if he felt they might have a beneficial outcome for our soldiers and the Iraqi people.

Let's try to cool our rhetoric and see if there isn't someway we can negotiate with our enemies here and abroad.