What's Next?

Yesterday was the end of Black Flag Week in Pakistan, though interest in - and solidarity with - the cause of Pakistani Rule of Law will continue. In the U.S. the project brought various web authors and blog sites together, yielding a gratifying by-product of the work we engaged in: friendship. I feel that many of us at AOC deepened our friendships with each other, and we gained new friends among the participating blogs around the world. Look for periodic updates concerning Pakistan's noble struggle to hold onto its cherished constitution, even as we in the U.S. continue efforts to rehabilitate and protect ours.
This coming Wednesday 19 March 2008 will mark the 5th anniversary of the commencement of ground operations in the Iraq invasion and subsequent occupation. Observances all around the country will honor the sacrifice of all Armed Services personnel and their families, including the ultimate sacrifice of the nearly 4,000 U.S. sons and daughters who gave their lives. The highest honor we can now accord our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines is to acknowledge their value to us and therefore bring them home, as quickly and as safely as possible. On the upcoming day of observance it would also be altogether fitting and proper to consider the millions of U.S. citizens at home contending with the myriad consequences of a mismanaged economy in their struggle to hold onto their homes, their jobs, their health, and their standard of living, while simultaneously trying to figure out how to send their children to college, fund their retirements, and care for their aging parents. It is time for all to weigh the costly Iraq occupation against other priorities.