Exactly What are They Doing for Me?

On a recent flight the captain came on shortly before landing with the obligatory thanks-for-flying-with-us speech, but added a bit about telling us that we may be seeing soldiers in desert camouflage in the airports coming/going from/to Iraq. He asked that we thank them “for what they are doing for us in Iraq”. Huh? Exactly what are they doing for me over there? I don’t work for Halliburton, so I am not receiving the rewards of that gravy train. Did he mean the added stress of seeing innocent people being killed every day over there while our egomaniacal presidents yuks it up on camera, ignoring the real cost of this war? I don’t think so. This captain like a huge number of the lemming population of this country believe that these soldiers are fighting for our freedom over there, at least I hear that over and over from these conservative wonks on TV. If they are, someone sure has been keeping it a secret that my freedom was in doubt due the previously-controlled regime without an effective army, no air force or navy, and no weapons of mass destruction, repeat NO weapons of mass destruction. Wake up America.