Pre State of the Union Thoughts

We all know that Bush is going to give the usual lip service to Social Security and Tax Reform. I’m old enough to not take him seriously on those two points. It’s an election year. He’s also going to tout the economy. I will be listening for one thing tomorrow night, though. I want to hear what Bush has to say about Iran.

I don’t seem to understand why the War on Terror should include Iran and North Korea, and why we *need* to do *something* about these countries. No, don’t get me wrong, I read the blogs, opinion, and headlines. I understand that Iran likely has nuclear weapons and that they are a threat to us and our allies. Same with North Korea. I am just not sold on *now* being the right time.

Perhaps this is all because Josh is deployed. Say that if it gives you comfort. I’m trying hard not to emote right now. Maybe it’s because I’m young and direct military conflict affects my peers and the peers of my sisters and cousins in a personal way. I just see some ADD going on in the Bush administration.

I used to do math tests without the aid of a calculator just because I enjoyed the rhythm of arithmetic and algebra. It was comforting. I learned that tasks in life involve a step-by-step method and attention to detail. I also learned that one shouldn’t go on to the next problem without finishing the started problem. Even if one works on each problem on a test, but finishes nothing, one still fails.

If Bush starts talking about pre-emptive war in Iran, I will be discouraged. We are still working on Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe that we should finish that, look for Bin Laden, and then move on. I am not asking to have the price of fighting removed from my household. I am not asking that Josh never be deployed after he returns from Iraq. I am asking that we finish the job in the places we are committed before we move on. We do not want to risk spreading our resources too thin.

As a side note, yes, I do believe that a lot of the insurgency in Iraq comes from Iran. Like this is a HUGE surprise. This does not mean we have to go to Iran to fight. The United States does not believe in boarder security at home, what makes anyone think we believe in boarder security in Iraq?