Some may know that I live just above the northern edge of Camp Pendleton -- usually one of the first places they pull troops from to send to the Middle East ... so I have a lot of friends where one of the adults in the family has already been shipped off to that area ... I have 2 nephews in active military service ... one just returned from the Middle East and one heading there within the next couple of months ....

I have no desire to rush headlong into conflict, but we haven't have we? I do wonder though .... who are we (as a nation) if we don't maintain the values we have espoused for the last 200+ years ... if we back away from them now because we fear retribution, then what will be the cost to our own country and the freedom we hold dear.

I believe in peace and love ... I have prayed that my heart be softened and then prayed for those who have declared themselves our enemy .... and yet with every peace loving fiber of my being I do not feel it right to sit by and let wrong prevail .... there is an old and valued quote (I paraphrase).... all it takes for evil to thrive is for good men (and women) to sit silent. Sometimes war becomes necessary to ensure peace .... that is sad, but true I think.