Hi, JackDallas. No question the situation in Afghanistan is awful at the moment but surely you don't believe deaths would stop there simply because Obama does/does not authorize more troops or adopts some new strategy/goals there? Does the fact he is still deciding mean those eight soldiers died for nothing? -- I'll let you call their parents and tell them that. Lots of those 40,000(?) additional soldiers will also die if sent. There is cause and effect operating here but the biggest cause is simply the nature of war itself.

Whether we ultimately prevail or not in Afghanistan or Iraq, no matter what state of flux either country may be in, the soldiers fighting there right now who die do so in an attempt to carry out specific missions assigned to them by their superiors. The death of any soldier is tragic but if they die attempting to do their duty, I can never think of it as being in vain. Just my thoughts. Thanks for replying with your own.