It's war, not business as usual

Frontiersman Editorial Board

The messages of war so far have been mixed at best. News broadcasts and briefings from the administration and from military leaders speak of the extraordinary nature of the men and women fighting in Iraq. As the war began, the terrorist alert level returned to orange, and there was some trepidation amongst travelers -- and prices at the pump jumped yet again. The message that seemed to be riding in on the wind was, "These are extraordinary times."

However, as the war's intensity ratcheted up this past weekend, the president headed off to Camp David, as he usually does on the weekend. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said it was important that the president present a business-as-usual image to the American people. Fleischer said it was important that people realize they should go on with their lives as normal. The message from the administration, it seems, is, "Don't get worked up. It's just a little war."

The fact is that war is an extraordinary thing, or at least it should be in a democratic country. We are historically not the sort of people who go to war for anything other than extraordinary reasons. In recent years, though, we've been involved in one small conflict after another, and perhaps that has desensitized us to the extraordinary nature of war.

On Sunday, as the president returned to the White House from Camp David, we were learning that a U.S. Marine unit had been ambushed in Iraq, and that at least 50 casualties had occurred.

We had also learned that a U.S. service man, who is also a Muslim, had lobbed at least three grenades at or into the tents of superior officers. U.S. troops had also been taken prisoner, and we things were extraordinry, indeed. As our troops draw nearer to Baghdad, it is likely that the amount and ferocity of Iraqi resistance will intensify, and we should be prepared to hear more bad news from the battlefield.

We agree that we must get on with the business of life at home. However, we also must accept that these are not ordinary times.

Now that we have committed troops to a dangerous task, we should hope for victory. We should hope that we don't lose any more American lives, and we should hope that our troops soon reach Baghdad with success. Because the way home now goes through Baghdad. While those soldiers are on that path, however, we hope the president will not enjoy too many weekends.

We hope he will lose sleep and work late into the night to help ensure a quick end to the conflict and a long peace to follow.