"In Remarkable Op-Ed" Charlotte Editor Describes Sending Son Off To War He Doesn't Believe In

[Hissyspit]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003565652

Editor Describes Sending His Son Off To A War He Does Not Believe In

By E&P Staff
Published: March 30, 2007 1:35 PM ET

NEW YORK In a remarkable op-ed column, published today in the Charlotte Observer and by several other newspapers across the country over the past eight days, Stephen E. Wright, editorial page editor of the San Jose Mercury News, describes sending his 18-year-old son off to Iraq this month -- and calls it "the wrong war."

Wright says that his son is part of the "surge" of troops to Iraq, adding that a "central theme in the national debate -- Support the troops, but not the war -- just got personal.... As the Mercury News' editorial page editor, I've often discussed the war in Iraq with our editorial board. Before my son enlisted, none of us had a family member serving in the military, so the discussions were mainly about how and when to write about the conflict."

Now he advises a phased U.S. withdrawal.

- snip -

Excerpts from the Wright op-ed, first published in his paper on March 22, follow:

*
Our son had many choices after high school. Joining the Army was not a last-ditch effort to straighten out his life or earn money for college. Instead, he was answering a call he had felt deeply for some time -- to be a soldier, to protect America and democracy from terrorism. He was prepared to fight -- and die -- for our freedom.

- snip -

If more Americans -- including the president and those in Congress -- had to make the personal sacrifice of sending a son or daughter to this war, some for a second or third time, or if they had to pay the ultimate sacrifice of losing a child in this war, we'd be long past the "support our troops" slogan. We'd be pulling out and concentrating on the real war -- the war against terrorism....

MORE