THE END OF THE WAR IN IRAQ...........

8 years, 7 months, 2 days, after our entry into Iraq, in a war searching for weapons of mass destruction that have never been found, and combatting a despotic dictator who was a scrouge on his own people and much of the World, and which caught us in a treacherous civil war between two Islamic factions in that nation, President Obama announced today the end of the War in Iraq on the part of the United States, and withdrawal of all American troops by the end of this year.  At the cost of 4,479 American lives, 32, 200 wounded Americans, and a cost of $805 billion to $1 trillion dollars, the time has more than come for us to conclude our involvement and allow the emancipated Iraqi people assume responsibility for their national security.  Whether the timing of our entry into Iraq was the diversionary to the War On Terror in Afghanistan, and slowed down the vital process we have been engaged in with the international community since 9-11, to eradicate, bring to justice, and vanquish Al Qaeda, and the terrorist sponsors of 9-11 and other travesties around the globe before, and since, that harrowing, infamous, strike on our country and  the free world.  May our respect and remembrance of our Iraq War dead remain in our hearts and memories.  And may the tens of thousands surviving wounded and disabled American veterans be a sustaining commitment and priority, as we prioritize their needs and aspirations in recognition, affirmation, and support, for the valiant service they have rendered in the cause of freedom, liberty, justice, and peace...........Fr.  Troy