In a way, my thoughts are almost the reverse of yours and Stephen's. My uncle is a doctor and served in the military during the first Gulf War. He was stationed in Saudi Arabia, only a couple dozen miles, if that, from the Iraqi border. He kept a journal while there and periodically sent pages back to my grandparents, who passed them on to me to type up on the computer. That journal is an amazing bit of writing, all told in my uncle's typical level-headed, down-to-earth, and often wry perspective, and did more than anything else for me in driving home the reality and import of the war.

This time, I don't know anyone out there, although I know a lot of people besides you who know people out there.

So much the better that I remember the concerns and feelings I had twelve years ago. Then, I was old enough to understand the gravity of the situation, but perhaps not mature enough to *feel* it, were it not for the personal connections I had with what was going on. I value pricelessly the memory of experience like that -- for its own sake, and now for practical application.

My prayers are with our troops, the troops of our allies, their families at home, and the Iraqi people.