ok, here's my political rant for the week:

i've never been in favor of the war/military conflict in iraq. i found it unnecessary and untimely - in my opinion, there was/is so much to focus on within our own borders that are more important/pressing than anything going on in iraq, regardless of what the president has to say about it.

as can be expected, my opinion of the iraq situation was only intensified upon hearing about justin. i spent some time yesterday digging around online for any articles about him and came up with a great deal of information that helped me catch up on what he had accomplished following graduation and in the years after and only became more angered by what i read. according to his mother, the first weeks in iraq showed him that there was nowhere he could have been more needed - the people were so appreciative of the u.s. presence and the civilian situation was so dire that he was filled with gratitude for having the opportunity to be there. in typical justin fashion, he was more focused on how he could help others than the potential risk he was facing by being there.

however, as time passed by and anti-american sentiments grew, he became frustrated and wanted to come home. people were beginning to threaten the american military on a more regular basis and the gratitude was beginning to turn into anger and resentment. and, naturally, as this was unfolding, the date at which he was going to be able to leave the army (july 18) was pushed back to august. nonetheless, he continued to do his duty until sunday, when he was ambushed and killed.

the president can say whatever he wants about weapons of mass destruction and the threat of saddam hussein, but anything he says is conveyed to the public from behind the safety of secret service officers and advisors. the odds of his ever being near the actual combat, of facing the animosity head-on, anything the actual soldiers are experiencing is virtually nonexistant. only when he is in the same town justin was in when he was killed, only when he sees what justin saw and what justin's fellow military officers see will i be able to even consider giving the president's justification for our presence in iraq credibility. i want the president to look justin's wife, mother, father, sister and nine-year-old brother in their faces and explain just why justin was there. and then i want him to do the same thing for the familiies of the other soldiers who have died in this conflict.

ok, political rant over.

i don't want to sound like i'm referring to justin as a close friend or anything like that, as the reality of the situation is that i hadn't seen him since the day after graduation five years ago. i had no idea that he had married kate, i heard no news of his serving in pakistan and afghanistan following the september 11 attacks. i've thought of him maybe a handful of times in five years.

that said, it's unfortunate to have to learn of what someone's been up to when you're reading a summary of his life alongside the description of his death. one of the realities of life is that there are people who remain in your existance while there are others who slip away into their own respective lives, careers and journeys. nevertheless, when the reality of that slaps you in the face, it's tough and more than a little surreal. afterall, i saw him everyday for the better part of six years - sitting in classes with him, cheering him on and being cheered on in return at our respective soccer games. sitting in my hotel room the night of graduation with him and three others, playing cards, jumping on the beds, taking snapshots of memories that now keep him forever at age 18 - barechested in jeans, mid-jump, a huge grin on his face as he and everyone else celebrated the end of our proctor lives and the beginning of the rest of those lives.