the vice president likes to say that oil can literally be what holds iraq together, the glue that holds iraq together but they have work to do to resolve fundamental problems in the way they decide the allocation of resources and the production. so an oil law is very important. further investment is important. you put those things together, regional integration, our efforts to help them build capacity, the oil piece, all of that i think will increasingly stabilize iraq as long as the politics hold. >> i think that's a good point. i think that the oil production is a measure of the economics and i think we're all watching those very carefully. but let's stick in this regional neighborhood for a little while. and give us your perspective on al qaeda and iran. >> one of the things we've seen in recent months is that in terms of violence in iraq, the violence from iranian backed shiite groups has dropped dramatically. i think that's a function of two things, one, iraqis made clear to the iranians that violence from these groups is unacceptable and prime minister maliki at one point told the

i appreciate the opportunity to take stock of how far we've come, how far iraq has come, the profound challenges that remain, and where we hope to go in building a new and more normal relationship between iraq and the united states. rudy, you quoted president obama a moment ago. indeed, when the president, vice president, came to office they came with a commitment, to end the war in iraq, responsibly. both parts of that sentence are critical, end the war, responsibly. it meant two things. it meant bringing our troops home after nearly a decade of war, and as important, it meant helping the iraqis build a sovereign, stable, self-reliant country with a representative government that could become a partner in the region and not a safe haven for terrorists. on our first full day of work after the inauguration, president obama host add cabinet level meeting to begin charting a course toward that goal. a month later while the united states still had 144,000 troops in iraq, the president determined to withdraw u.s. forces from iraq cities by the summer of 2009, to end our combat mission and

he wishes the iraq war was going on. that is a minority view in his own party. >> it's toim for us to bring the troops home as soon as we possibly can. >> we are risking the lives of young men and women that may not be doable. >> any time you have such a shocking development, i think it's important to take a look and see what the situation is and whether it's possible to continue on. >> this doesn't make you more inclined to move them out faster? >> makes me more determined to make sure we're getting them home. it's been a decade and frankly now that we've gotten bin laden and weakened al qaeda, we're in a stronger position to transition than we would have been two or three years ago. >> it's time. it's been a decade and now we've gotten bin laden, now that we weakened al qaeda we are knee a stronger position to transition than we would have been two or three years ago. so plans two or three years ago may be sped up. politics of that are different than a first glance at american partisanship. >>> joining us josh rogin, co

counterpart but this appalling legacy of the iraq war. in two thousand and ten the british ministry of defense finally admitted the use of depleted uranium in iraq and supplied the united nations with information on the zones targeted a u.s. ally is beginning to voice its doubts on this weapon. only belgium ireland kosta rica the new zealand have formally banned uranium in their arms but today no international convention even mentions that we did your radio minutes texts. this allows the u.s. administration to continue using it without fear of reprisals. if the illinois law faculty francis boyle claims that the usa can be hauled before a tribunal this lawyer and harvard graduate has an international reputation asian origin vietnam gulf war syndrome or trials our specialty today francis boyle is locked in a new battle to have the use of depleted uranium recognized as a war crime uranium munitions violate the hague regulations of nineteen zero seven and then our do you also violates the geneva protocol of one nine hundred twenty five. so the

the numbers are not as partisan as the eye iraq war. majority of the country says the afghanistan war was not worth fighting, majority of the country wants troops home now, troops home now faster than president obama's 2014 time line. this is not one of those things there is a big partisan split. democrats have been and still are more against the afghanistan war than republicans are, but republicans are really rapidly catching up. look at that, this is just the republicans. 27 point drop in support for the afghanistan war among republicans since president obama took office in 2009. the american people are against the war in afghanistan. the numbers on the afghanistan war right now look roughly the same as the numbers on iraq. the only difference is that the afghanistan war is a war that is still going on. yesterday in southern afghanistan a staff sergeant is said to have gone in the middle of the night from house-to-house, on his own, searching for and shooting civilians. he wounded five civilians, killed 16. 16 afghan civilians killed i

the republicans -- would still be in iraq, the war would not be over. mitt romney still wants to be in iraq. newt gingrich, all the republicans still want to be there. so i send out congratulations to the president. thank you. >> thank you for your call this morning. in other news, political news, here is the washington times. bob kerrey, a vietnam war vet changes minds, decides on senate run. senator bob kerrey changed his mind and will seek the democratic nomination for senate, a move to boost efforts to keep one of the most vulnerable seats this fall. mr. kerrey, 68, represented the state for 12 years before retiring in '01 said his reversal fit his character because doing things the conventional way has never been my strong suit. i came to realize the previous decision was the easy one, not the right one. my commitment to serve nebraska and america and be part of the didn't about the challenges we face was too strong to dismiss. he says his family supports his decision 100%. a kerrey candidacy would jump-start enthusiasm, media attention and cash for

while the struggle continues in iraq, today, the top u.s. commander in afghanistan was testifying before congress on the future of the mission there. he told lawmakers that the war is winding down and there is no intention of remaining in the country indefinitely. despite growing political and public pressure for a speedy withdrawal, they wanted to make sure that afghanistan does not become a haven for terror. southwest france is on the highest alert it has ever been on file with the shooting at a jewish school in toulouse. police have mounted one of the biggest manhunts in history after they linked the attack to two other attacks. >> the gunman is a cold letter -- cold-blooded executioner. his seven victims were shot at cold lake range -- at point blank range. in yesterday's shooting at the jewish school, that gunman sees it the daughter of the head teacher by the hair as she tries to escape. -- the gunman seized the daughter of the head teacher by the hair as she tried to escape. >> he does not hesitate to fire on children. >> today, the c

the british i think are pulling out of iraq. i think the americans are saying they're very pleased about it. dick cheney was on television the other night saying we see this as a very necessary move and a victory. i don't know. i suspect that british public opinion and opinion within the labor party is now i think turning very much against the occupation of iraq. >> so, go to palestine and then to israel and in your book you discuss zionism and the need, then, that they wanted a place -- jews wanted a place to go in the world. >> i mean, zionism was a very powerful movement among the jews of the world. interestingly enough at that time not so much among american jews. american jews really became zionist as a result of hitler and the second world war, but there was a lot of pressure among the jewish people to have a homeland of their own. there were parts of the world in europe, in russia, for example, where jews simply did not feel safe and were very badly treated and so understandably the world zionist movement came into being l

the time. they are thinking these people with experience are thinking this is not iraq. but it has mine at the end of the day there are many people who say it's not transferable. you can't take what we get there and do it here obviously. but i think he never really gained rapport and the crystal had with karzai any afghan ministers respected him, but it certainly wasn't the same level of respect he had with the iraqi government. another question. sorry, i should be writing these down. [inaudible] he is such a driven individual. obviously he channels that drive and ambition to serve the country. i think is easier is in line with that, but it is not egotistical. it's egocentric if that makes sense. and he has a duty on our country and his service to the nation about his family. so i'll must consider that a strength and weakness as a working mother and wife gave my husband works really hard, to. it's hard to but it's clear that they have this wonderful marriage and very established children. other weaknesses. there are. i like to kind of teased him -- like i call him mono di

the architecture that he could were quests. he felt he had to prove himself. a lot of people felt he talked about iraq of the time. and people with many years of experiencing gain this is not iraq but at the end of the day there were many principles we could take. it is not transferable obviously but he never came to the reporter that mcchrystal had with karzai and the afghan ministers respected him and not the same level he had with the iraqi government. the third question weaknesses? >> he is such as a drive-in individual which is a string he channels that drive and ambition but i think his ego is in line with that. not egotistical but egocentric. he puts to the honor country above his family. i almost consider that the strength and weakness as a working mother and wife is hard to find balance but it is pretty clear that she supports him but they have a wonderful marriage and establish children of their weaknesses? of itt's him that i call him mono directional. not multifaceted. that is six dreamy -- he is -- that is a joke. he is well read and now induced by novels. he does not like to do anything besides read,

i'm delighted that the pentagon embedded journalist in the iraq war that's been going on for the last couple of years. i don't know if you know this or not, bubba the pentagon, before the iraq war started off, they offered american journalists the opportunity to go to fort weng and i believe, fort sill, ft. knox, and other military bases. air, brown, marine, to be briefed on e -- air, ground, marine, to be briefed on battlefield maneuver activities and battlefield activities. when i was in fort benning making a talk before the iraq war popped off, jumped off, they were having one of those gatherings where the journalists for a week, were at fort benning. they learned ant infantry tactics. they learned about fire maneuver and fire support. and they were much more qualified to report to the american people what they were seeing in iraq. >> i remember seeing and reading about that. >> yeah. whereas in vietnam, as i understand it, joe six-pack off the streets of chicago, could show up in saigon and get a press card. and he would know the difference between a squad and a battalion. or an m

the symbolism there. this is your chance. we've created this time in space. it's your chance, iraq to be there and start a new beginning or what. so nobody knows how either of these wars are going to end and i don't think he was naive to think that the surge would be enough. >> you can hop in. >> how many questions do we have? >> we have five more minutes. you can have 1 3/4. >> how much have president obama's interest in having him go somewhere was political to get him out of the way and you know what i'm talking about. and the other part is -- part of a question, part of a concern but you've mentioned petraeus was a great consumer of intelligence. but on the other hand, it appears to me he was just a newspaper reader so to speak, that there is a militarization of the cia going on, that's the core underneath my question and that he was selected in part because of his special operations background and his use of all those kinds of devices in order to move this process within the cia further than it has been in the past which i think should be some concern. so if you could comment o

it's a difficult question, i think about, in the context of iraq. and i think the answer to the question is that they died for their country. soldiers don't get to choose the wars that they fight. they are sent to serve. they are sent with an understanding that they may be called upon to sacrifice. and the value of the sacrifice is inherent in the act of sacrifice and is independent, i think, of questions about the merit of the policies that sent the soldier into harm's way in the first place. >> is there a plan b as you look at the strategic situation there, or look at what the administration is doing? >> well, i think plan b, and it's not necessarily one that i fully agree with, is already taking shape. or maybe we should call it plan c. i mean, plan a was "shock and awe." plan a was the george w. bush administration's belief that the concerted application of american military power could fundamentally transform the islamic world. that what really -- that's the real genesis of the iraq war. iraq was going to be the place where the bush administrati

the u.s. does not have troops fighting in iraq. president barack obama fulfilled his promise to end the war in iraq as part of an overall strategy to rebalance american national security priorities. today, we will discuss this and have this presentation on to the end of the iraq war and the american engagement in iraq with the deputy assistant to president obama's and the national security adviser to vice president joe biden. our colleague has done a brief paper and it is on the back table for all of you who want to make sure that you grab a copy. he is looking at how the end of the iraq war had strengthened overall u.s. national security. by dedicating more resources to the fight against al qaeda, to restore u.s. military readiness, options to face other middle eastern threats, and to reduce the financial burden on defense spending, and to rebalance u.s. national security overall. that is on the back table and also on line. it was last december that president obama said "it is harder to end a war than to -- begin one." iraq is not

the pain. came back and then about six months later my unit was deployed again to iraq. this time i was in the remain behind element so i was kind of able to see the other side of things when we would get the casualty reports. we would get the kia's in and have to notify and take, you know, be on that end of things as well. i decided i was going to get out of the marine corps but i was persuaded by a good friend,

the pain. came back and then about six months later my unit was deployed again to iraq. this time i was in the remain behind element so i was kind of able to see the other side of things when we would get the casualty reports. we would get the kia's in and have to notify and take, you know, be on that end of things as well. i decided i was going to get out of the marine corps but i was persuaded by a good friend, sergeant major ellis, to stay in. on that deployment he ended up getting killed. i went to his funeral over in arlington national cemetery. then about two weeks after that a friend also in second battalion 4th marines hung

and aftghanistn afghanistan. >> and as you looked at the developments in iraq today, what do you think the u.s. legacy is and will be? >> well, the legacy that we left behind in iraq is largely depending on what the iraqis decide to do right now. we've given them an opportunity to enjoy freedom and liberty and now they need to decide what sort of form that's going to take for them and their children and their grandchildren. >> colonel, you were in the front lines in iraq. what did you see? what were your impressions about your inwaffvolvement in this conflict? >> well, it was a long process. as we went through a couple years of combat, i was a marine with my experiences largely from what happened there. i took away from that that, you know, we have a very adaptive and very professional force that is able to figure out the many challenges of war. and, in the end, come out victorious. >> and, finally, for your personally, how are you preparing for tonight's dinner? what will you be wearing? and is this your first time at the white house? >> definitely my first time at the whi

all this progress is real, but so is the peril. iraq faces profound challenges about fundamental issues. we see them with very clear eyes. finding ways to share power and holding all sides to the agreements they make. stamping out the violent extremists to continue launching our raiders attacks on innocent civilians and foreign diplomats just try to do their jobs, and security forces. ensuring the necessary legal and financial framework in place to allow the energy sector to further flourish. the level of violence, while diminished, also remains unacceptable to the iraqi people. enhancing and maintaining iraq pose a commitment to democratic principles of will require hard work and constant vigilance. its regional relationships remain tenuous despite the recent progress and fraught with mistrust and the specter of airtran looms large over iraqi affairs. these and other problems will not simply. be solved simply but i think a little perspective is in order. given the country posted dramatic and very recent past, more than 30 years of dict

teams on the streets of baghdad where there's also been a day-long curfew. iraq's relations with arab neighbors are still tense so it wasn't surprising that the leaders of many gulf sunni states stayed away. others may have been deterred by the country's precarious security situation. two mortars landing not far from theconference center as summit began won't calm any nerves. but the main topic on the agenda, the crisis in syria. delegates formerly supported a u.n. plan to end the fighting. >> the syrian government has reason to join special envoy, mr. kofi annan, accepting his six-point plan, which was endorsed by the united nations security council. the world is waiting for commitments to be translated into action. >> but even as they spoke and footage emerged of mortar shells smashing into homs, a town being blasted into submission. the commentators on the video appealed to syria's arab neighbors for help. in their absence, he then called to god. these images show protestors coming under fire. they say the regime is not interested in dialogue until its ponents h

one of the reasons and the reason for that the primary one for the motivation of iraq is to ensure us control over the major interference or sense of the world in the embassy which means look inside baghdad is a city like no other innocent and street in the world not building the embassy and also in iraq and the huge basins around with an intentionally they're building the intention to maintain control. since two thousand and three the us has built dozens of military bases in iraq in two thousand and eight the us and iraqi governments signed an agreement that states that all foreign troops should leave the country by two thousand and eleven. the agreement also says that the u.s. will not seek permanent bases or a permanent military presence in iraq. obama secretary of defense robert gates though has stated that even after two thousand and eleven he expects to see several tens of thousands of american troops as part of a residual force in iraq. has many fear that iraq may be used as a launching pad for future wars in the region. over the fact bases created in response to an imminent th

while the struggle continues in iraq, today, the top u.s. commander in afghanistan was testifying before congress on the future of the troubled mission there. he told lawmakers that the war is winding down and there is no intention of remaining in the country indefinitely. despite growing political and public pressure for a speedy withdrawal, they insisted that they need to make sure that afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists. reports are coming in from mexico of the impact of a major earthquake which struck the country earlier today. the tremor measured 7.4 in magnitude and was centered on the pacific coast. shaking was also felt in the capital of mexico city from where our correspondent joins me now. what do we know about any damage this might have cost? >> people are feeling very gingerly off of the back of this very large earthquake. -- people are feeling very jittery. there is this sense of relief that it has not been worse. this is the worst earthquake since 1985. this is nowhere near that scale. there have been no reports

the u.s. should have gone into iraq in the first place remained unchanged at 40%. both indicators declined for afghanistan. there was an increase in one point who think there's going to be long-term success there and also a four-point drop in troops who think that that mission was worth undertaking in the first place which is kind of interesting because analysts would say just the opposite, that afghanistan was the font of al-qaida. that's where the focus should have been all along. the troops seem to have a little bit of a different opinion there. >> that's interesting. one of the issues that you guys ask in each of these polls is how the troops feel about their commander in chief. how do they feel about president obama? >> well, not surprisingly, the force leans a little bit rightward politically. we asked questions, two questions, how do you rate president obama's performance as president and specifically as commander in chief. he gets low- to mid-20 approval ratings for both of those. that's about less than half of the approval ratings that former president bus

temperament their on the threat iraq at the. moment we all stay united in the struggle that more and i'm confident we can prevail. you cannot i work together or if we don't speak out against the federal our lands we will never be able to change the world. article but it was kind of a mature here. and it's about who we have to keep our camp and. that's the only way we can prevail i think was the. biggest stunt and. our path is one of resistance not terrorism but . we're here to provide a safe and secure environment for everybody regardless of what it would they are and to make sure that people have the freedom of movement their kids can go to school that people go to work and people can sleep safely and we would like to see kosovo to bella continue to grow and there will be a point we're ok for is no longer needed and we look for today. the questions any of the girls to get everything you need. i am. i am. i in. the it. all.

to have optimism then for the future of iraq at this stage. i have a lot of optimism in the iraqi people's resolve to try to build their society and develop a society iraq before the first gulf war in one thousand nine hundred two was on the verge of being a developed country so under the current circumstances i have very little faith in the political authorities of the country mainly because they don't reflect the will of the majority of the iraqi people. and the will of the their the majority the iraqi people but what about the future of democratic development of the country federal elections where we see. a more democratic nance cape pen that you think. i think that the people will determine their own form of democratic participation when they're allowed to do that without outside interference and i think we might be surprised at the way that the iraqis would determine their future direction but we can't do that even if we have so-called elections yet that you know election when part of the population and all the baths for example are exclud

the u.s. has built dozens of military bases in iraq in two thousand and eight the u.s. and iraqi governments signed an agreement that states that all foreign troops should leave the country by two thousand and eleven. the agreement also says that the u.s. will not seek permanent basis or a permanent military presence in iraq. obama secretary of defense robert gates though has stated that even after two thousand and eleven he expects to see several tens of thousands of american troops as part of a residual force in iraq. hence many fear that iraq may be used as a launching pad for future wars in the region. over the fact bases created in response to an imminent threat have ended up becoming permanent jaeger garcia for example born in the context of the cold war is still operational and has played a crucial role in the iraq war but they say just a minute they are. thirty fifty pretty steady you know the island is not safe for the people to go if they are to return they are but the thing is americans are living there and they have developed they are united and i even had l

on june 15, the court had headquarters in iraq. they lost a series of this in order to attack the safe havens at once. if you look at the violent charts, you will see that the violence level spite for a week after that began. then they start to decline rapidly. >> here is your brother's wife who got attracted to each other over war? >> i do not think it was over war. she is an expert in military affairs. she ran an institute that has now become a source for all kinds of newspapers and journalists. >> let me ask you. he instituted these city of war. it is called the institute of peace. why are we spending that kind of money on something called the institute of peace? >> is a perfectly good organization. it is basically another think tank. i do not know why the government spends a lot of government funding on another think tank. it is true that the u.s. military has led to the institute of peace to help them on some issues where they were able to do some transitions between civilian and military issues. there's no question that they h

soldiers have been killed in this region one third of the american casualties in iraq. flew to was the first city to fight back against american occupation. it found fame by throwing them out of town and inflicting great loss of life. so much so that the people wondered how a small city like fallujah could resist against the world's most powerful army yes are you. in march two thousand and four four mercenaries under contract to the us army were killed in their vehicle on the outskirts of town their mutilated bodies were dragged through the streets then hung under this bridge as trophies it was one of the very first acts of violence against the united states these pictures were soon seen all over the world it was the start of an escalation that culminated in the battle of fallujah and november of two thousand and four the death toll listed one hundred thirty four g i's and thirty five hundred iraqis saluja became a symbol of the revolt accordingly the army imposed a very strict checks on the city of fingerprints and retina scans of every last inhabitant or recorded in th

change is the fact that for the first time in nine years there are no americans fighting in iraq. >> president obama, today, very much feeling it in campaigning in vermont and maine. you can see the president energized by what he's saying and by the very enthusiastic response he's getting from that very supportive crowd. here is what i think is the most under reported 2012 story of this week. the biggest and, i think, most political move by any of the candidates. it got no coverage at all which surprises me given how much attention this has received. on wednesday this week president obama released this video. it's a video recorded at the white house in which he specifically addresses supporters of planned parenthood. yes, it's interesting that president obama is addressing planned parenthood supporters specifically. it's not just the fact that he did this, it's what he said in this video that i think is really newsworthy. i can't believe this didn't get more attention this week. >> over the past year you've had to stand up to politicians who wanted to deny millions of women the care t

supporting all america's wars including the iraq war that was started on lies and now both countries are facing a huge backlash from their joint campaigns topping the agenda is of the sense especially in the wake of the tragedy that happened there over the weekend when a u.s. soldier apparently murdered sixteen innocent afghans in cold blood including women and children analysts say the incident is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problems that the allied forces mission faces in afghanistan a basketball court is probably not the most appropriate venue to discuss those very serious matters at hand but the two leaders will surely have more to say as the u.k. prime minister's visit to the united states continues the u.s. and the u.k. or the main contributors to the war in afghanistan and as the two countries are trying to coordinate a timetable for withdrawal analysts say becomes increasingly clear that their nation building effort has been a failure insurgency and the country's rampant afghans clearly want the allied forces out is and it's like the latest murder of innoc

so the iraq es need to do a number of things. the first thing is they need finally resolve a question of their so called oil law. that is who decides on contracts. how are the proceeds distribu d distributed. a lot of this is happening as a as a matter of fact matter. not day in day out. the lack of a law creates tension. it continues to create uncertainty for potential investors so that's one thing that needs to happen. there has been some discussion of movement but we've seen that so the jury is out. the financing system for the argue sector needs to change. the the profit potential needs to be -- many investing now on the basis of service contracts, that's going to need to change. and open this to financing systems that are used around the world that are not in place in iraq also needs to top. the good news is we've seen progress. that's significant. that helped proyk. 100 million budget. it helped oil markets. creates a letter sense of facility in those markets. but you hit a ceiling at some point and if they are able to get b

the problem is the sample size is so small when they collect data. think about this. iraq and afghanistan veterans less than 1% of the population. about 11% of those are women. so an even smaller population of an extremely small population. when they take sampling, a difference of two or three or four in a given month can swing it 5, 10 percentage points. this is something actually that we really need to work harder to get. we need an accurate picture of what's happening with our female vets. they a growing and critical sector of the veterans population. they need services that are on par with their male vets, they need not just job placement but health care and benefits. this is something iava has been population, it makes it really it doesn't bear out. the incidences of someone going to extremes with post traumatic stress are actually incredibly low. i would venture far less than in the average civilian population. but what we have to do is educate the workforce. we have to let them know that, look, post traumatic stress is is a wound. chest, you're not going to walk aro

i remember your speech before the iraq war. ow that to the audience. >> it is simply tragic that six years to the day after the terrorist attacks of september 11th, 2001, our attention is so focused on what has been in the greatest mistake in the fight against al-qaeda and that is the iraq war. it should be a global fight against a global enemy. >> that guy nailed it. [ laughter ] >> so you saw the disastrous lead up to the iraq war. do you see the same thing happening with iran? >> in some ways, yes, and in some ways no we have a tendency to focus on one country at a time completely invade a country and stay there or do nothing. on the other hand this is at least a genuine threat. the issue with regard to iraq was essentially fabricated. i don't think we can allow iran to become a nuclear power, but you just made the distinction very clearly between whether they have the capable versus whether they have the capability, and whether we need to rush into war or there are many other things that could be done, but there is a rush to

the problem is the sample size is so small when they collect data. think about this. iraq and afghanistan veterans less than 1% of the population. about 11% of those are women. so an even smaller population of an extremely small population. when they take sampling, a difference of two or three or four in a given month can swing it 5, 10 percentage points. this is something actually that we really need to work harder to get. we need an accurate picture of what's happening with our female vets. they a growing and critical sector of the veterans population. they need services that are on par with their male vets, they need not just job placement but health care and benefits. this is something iava has been really aggressive on in the last few years. the next step is to figure out an accurate snapshot of where things like employment and health care are. and with a small spread-out population, it makes it really, really challenging. >> because of the issues we've heard with iraq and afghanistan vets with things like post traumatic stress disorder, do those serve as stigmas for

the republicans would still be in iraq, the war would not be over. mitt romney still wants to be in iraq. newt gingrich and all the republicans still want to be there. congratulations to the president. host: thanks for your call. in other news, political news, fears the "washington times, bob kerrey, a vietnam veteran changed his mind and decides to run for senate. that's a "washington times this morning. here is from the cincinnati inquirer newspaper online. it's all about ohio and the battle starts today. this is about super tuesday if. that's next tuesday. in this article, -- next call comes from nebraska. justin is an iraq war veteran. caller: good morning. i served in baghdad and then sadr city in 2004 and cut 2005, right after the invasion there was no iraqi government, no army. everything was pretty hazy. that was at the height of the war and there were 160,000 troops there. i feel foolish in a way. i would do it over again. i'm proud to wear the uniform for my country. i did not figure we would spend a decade in that country and in afghanistan