I was really taken with this photo, which is part of today’s photo gallery at El WaPo. I don’t want to read too much into their faces, but I can venture a guess as to what is probably going through their heads. I do not envy either of them. Each one is going to go through a piece of their own personal hell over the coming months. My hope is that he’ll come home safe and sound and they can resume building their life with one another.

If you read the story associated with the photo, you get the distinct impression that the embrace was more for her benefit than his, but you never know really. Guys tend to hold that stuff back. Indeed, it seemed he told her to hold back any tears during their farewell and my guess is that he’d lose it upon seeing her cry.

I just wish that there were a law on the books that would mandate a president personally sees off each and every platoon of soldiers that he puts into harm’s way. That way he could get a glimpse of what it’s like to look at the one you love and not know whether or not you’re going to see them again. You can look into the eyes of your beloved and feel the muted anxiety, the boundless love, the dread, the anticipation, the fear, the buried uncertainty, the hope.

In this case I don’t think that the commander-in-chief would be able to find much solace. The reasons he put forth for starting this war evaporated leaving only personal reasons which finally met conclusion when a former dictator hung from the rafters late last December. The presence of weapons of mass destruction doesn’t matter and neither does it seem that Iraq freedom/democracy matter in the least – Saddam has been executed.

But the war continues on. The people that we attacked are now at war with one another, blind with fury over who’s to blame for their misery. They don’t agree on much, but they seem to be pretty much convinced that Americans aren’t going to leave. And they resent them for it. America keeps telling them that they should be grateful that we removed a murdering dictator, but I somehow doubt they can even notice the difference between one murdering dictator and thousands of murdering vigilantes.

American soldiers come and go, doing as they’re ordered. Every single one of them knows that bullets don’t discriminate between Democrat or Republican, so they go about the business of surviving another day in a war that the majority of us will never fully understand – nor completely legitimize.

So to our soldiers I wish you all my best and hope only for your safe return. And to the families of those serving abroad, my heart is with you.