While you are with your family at Camp David to celebrate Christmas. Tonight, at least 19 more families wait to hear the dreaded news that their son or daughter is dead in a bombing in Mosul. A friend of our family is serving in the 133rd Engineer Battalion (Maine); he's a decent man doing his duty. He has left behind an elderly father that he cares for to do his duty. He has a great sense of humour and loves to dance. Tonight we, along with many others who are his friends, are left wondering if he lies among the casualties and what would become of his father if he is lost.
You issued a glib statement after the attack, talking about these soldiers sacrifices, abstractly speaking about a vital mission. These statements are easy for you to say when your daughters are safe under your roof. My best friend's daughter is serving in Baghdad; she is a bit younger your daughters and no less loved. My friend finds no comfort in your administration's statements that violence will only increase in Iraq and has no rest from the worry that her daughter may be killed.
In several days we will celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, in a time when there is no peace or peace of mind for many. Can you really celebrate His birth as you ignore His admonitions for peace?
