Bring them home

Son of family acquaintance killed in Iraq


Becky Lourey represented us in the Minnesota state legislature for the six years we lived in northern Pine County. I fought fires with Matthew Lourey's brother, and my wife worked for and still writes for the newspaper now run by Matthew's sister-in-law.


President Bush must be high if he believes what he is saying. But using triumphal language is the only way for him to maintain the delusion that the enormous loss of Iraqi and American lives required for the US to hold its spoils is worth the cost.

I did not know Matthew Lourey. But I fought a few fires with his brother when we were volunteers in the fire services of neighboring towns. Matthew's sister-in-law runs the Askov American in Askov, Minnesota. My wife still has The Practical Pantry food column running weekly in that paper.

I'm crying. When the reality of this war strikes this close, I scream out inside against Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rice, Rumsfeld, and their Pentagon minions -- the liars who caused this situation to be a thousand-fold worse than it ever had to be.

That's how I see this situation, whether or not Matthew Lourey did. I deeply respect his courage and sacrifice, ultimate sacrifice. But our family, friends, and neighbors should not be in this position. They should be at home with their own families.

Iraq should be allowed to sort out its own future.

For now I will just say that the outrageous lies told by President Bush today and by General Myers over the weekend -- touting ``progress'' in Iraq, ``humane'' treatment of prisoners, and the building of a ``safer world'' where post-911 America ``is more secure'' -- things which will not follow as long as the US aim is to ``complete the mission'' of taking and holding the country. And taking the country, while destroying the lives of Iraqis and our own troops alike, is what the US war is actually doing, which can easily be discerned from the small number of independent voices reporting on this war.

My heart goes out to the Loureys. I am thinking about them constantly and wishing I could do more to ease their pain, but nothing else I can think of to say is going to help. It is indeed a sad Memorial Day for our old friends in Pine County Minnesota.