Steven Kuykendall: “I would like to know why our government is thinking about sending troops to Kosovo. This sounds a lot like a Vietnam…”

“I would like to know why our government is thinking about sending troops to Kosovo. This sounds a lot like a Vietnam type of war which lasted 9 years. I am 12 now, and if this lasts for 6 more years, then I might be drafted and have to go to war. In my parents' generation almost everyone knows someone who served in the Vietnam War. Not too many people speak highly of our involvement in Vietnam. I want to be a successful person and a good citizen when I grow up. I want to uphold those great ideals I read about in Washington, D.C. that our Founding Fathers set down in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, as well as many other places. I would like my country to be seen as doing the 'right thing' or fighting for a 'noble' cause. Right now in Kosovo it does not look like that to all of the nations of the world. I visited the Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial and toured Arlington National Cemetery. I saw monuments to thousands of Americans who gave their lives for freedom. My father spoke with me about the meaning of these monuments and the sacrifices Americans made during these conflicts. How Kosovo a part of that duty? To Justin Kawahara, I say that is an excellent question.”