When Johnny (and Joanie) come marching home

When will our troops be able to come home from Iraq? First we thought the homecoming would follow our capture of Baghdad and the toppling of Saddam’s statue. Even President Bush declared, “Mission accomplished!”

But occupied Iraq showered us with roadside bombs not flowers. Many thought soldiers would be coming home when Saddam’s sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed. Surely they would come home after Saddam’s capture. But the occupied stepped up their attacks and more Americans came home in hospital planes and in flag draped boxes than returned to march in Fourth of July parades.

We were told turning the government over to our ex-CIA operative, Ayad Allawi, would let the troop come home. But the occupied didn’t buy it and we were forced to ship more troops to rather than from Iraq, bringing our occupying force to an all time high of 150,000.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe it will be the January elections. If not we can hope the adoption of a new constitution brings the troops home. But if all else fails, the troops will return once we have drained the oil.