Thousands of children have died in Iraq. No one denies this. Of course, there is a war going on over there. Everyone knows people die in a war, sometimes even civilians. Some of these deaths were accidents, where our military acted rashly and just plain made a mistake. Some of these deaths were just kids in the wrong place at the wrong time, who got caught up in the crossfire. But some of them were “enemy combatants”.
Now I know that we were warned when we went into Iraq that our soldiers might be fighting “twelve and fourteen year old boys”, because those crazy Iraqis were evil enough to send their children in to fight for them. Those boys never materialized, but I wasn’t talking about them, anyway.
I’m talking about the Kevlar Kids. The ones the enemy uses as shields.
Now I am against this war in general, but I can talk rationally about it. I can debate the rationale for war, I can respect the men and women out there fighting it for our side. I can discuss strategy, and even give credit to those with whom I do not agree, but who truly believe that this war was the right choice for this country. Until someone brings up the Kevlar Kids.