David Thomas: “more than anything else, we all are thinking about the conflicts that are going on in Iraq and about our men and women…”

“more than anything else, we all are thinking about the conflicts that are going on in Iraq and about our men and women who are fighting there. Of course, we have to continue to do what we have to do. Our lives go forward. We think about it a lot, and hear a great deal about it--I suppose more because of the embedded media--than we have ever heard before. We hear various kinds of reports. Certainly they are good for us to hear. We need to know what is happening. From time to time, we also hear some questionable comments and questions about the commitment of our leadership. Nevertheless, that is where we are. I guess all of us think a lot about why we are there, what needs to be done, and what will be the outcome. This morning I met with a group of 8th graders from Big Piney, WY, one of the smaller towns in western Wyoming. The whole class from the high school came. I think there were 30 of them. One of them asked: What do you think of the war? Well, how would you react to 8th graders who ask that? I think it makes you really wonder. So we talked a little bit about it. We talked about the fact that it is a war that was brought about by terrorism, a war that was brought about by what happened in the Persian Gulf 12 years ago, a war that was brought about by the fact that Saddam Hussein, who had to sign an agreement to finish that war because he was defeated, has not done what he was required to do.”