The Cruellest Month
How bad has April been for the war in Iraq, now a year removed from Bush's announcement that major combat operations have ended? How about this quiz: What was Lt. Col. Jeff Poffenbarger referring to when he made the following statement?

"'We've done more in eight weeks than the previous...team did in eight months," Poffenbarger said. "So there's been a change in the intensity level of the war."

What has been done more? If you said "craniotomies" (removing part of the skull to access a severely injured brain), you're correct. And as high as the death toll has been (last night, Nightline devoted an entire show just to reading the names of those Americans killed in combat), comparing to other wars, the number should be even higher. Our doctors and their technology are saving people that never would have been saved, even 12 years ago. In one of the more shocking statements I've ever heard a doctor make, Lt. Col. Robert Carroll, in that same article, even says: "We're saving more people than should be saved, probably."

Bill Maher has annoyed me in the past by saying that given 2 candidates for President, on balance he would go for military experience as his top priority. This was his rationale for choosing Kerry or Clark, and was his reason for choosing Bush I (not sure if he picked Dole over Clinton). With the horrors of this April bearing down, I'm starting to have some appreciation for that position. I just can't believe this unnecessary war would have been fought if the major decision makers (the ones listened to anyway) hadn't all bypassed military service. President Colin Powell would never have fought this war. I wish Kerry would emphasize this even more--that he has experienced war up close, and would do everything in his power to keep our soldiers (and our doctors) from its wake.

Major combat operations, indeed.