THE FOUR THOUSAND

All day long, as I've bustled around at work, I've had the number 4000 imprinted on my brain. Four thousand of our military dead in Iraq. Eight times that number wounded, damaged. Even more times that number suffering from PTSD. Many more times that number members of families and loved ones of the dead, the wounded, the traumatized. And to add to that, from 80,000-600,000 Iraqis dead or damaged.

And the response of our president and his presumed successor, John McCain? To declare that more must die or be damaged in order to honor the sacrifice of those before them.

There is no honor in such a position. There is great honor in what our military men and women have tried to do in order to do their duty as their country has defined it. But there is only disgrace in what we have required of them. They have served with diligence in the worst of circumstances. We have not returned the favor.

There are so many issues in this presidential election cycle that are critical to our future as a people in the United States. But for me, the first and most important is to end our involvement in Iraq and to preclude any such future neocon misadventures. We cannot mend our international relations, fix our economy, institute universal healthcare, address climate change, or succeed in almost any of our progressive agenda items until that is accomplished.

Hillary Clinton is the most prepared to bring us out. She's been working on this issue thoughtfully, decisively. She has the confidence and backing of the cream of our military. They will eagerly work with her to find a solution for withdrawal from Iraq. They have publicly stated that she is best-positioned to end the war and to give them only missions that make sense.

Hillary Clinton must be the next president of the United States.