Stanley McChrystal

A reminder than the War on Terror is very real indeed appeared in Connecticut newspapers today. One of our better sons gave his life for freedom in Afghanistan

An Army reservist and native of Hamden who worked to provide clean water to villages in Uganda was killed while on patrol in Afghanistan Friday.Benjamin Sklaver, 32, son of Laura and Gary Sklaver of Hamden, was one of two soldiers killed in an ambush, his mother said Saturday.“We were told that his team was on patrol on foot in a town and they were ambushed by a suicide bomber,” Laura Sklaver said. 

I suggest one read the whole article to appreciate the sorts of people who are in our military today putting their lives on the line trying to improve the lives of people who have suffered under tyranny and despotism. Hopefully it should dispel the idea that we are fighting the war against Al-Queuda by bombing villages from a bomber cruising @40,000 feet.

This hits me personally because in a prior job I had the occassion to do a number of closings with Captain Sklaver's mom, who is a very well respected real estate attorney in Connecticut. My prayers tonight are with the Sklaver family, who mourn the loss of a life cut tragically short.

I'm not going to get into partisan politics on this, except to mention the the meeting the President had with the U.S. commander for Afghanistan Friday means a lot more to me than whether Chicago gets to play host to the Olympics.  Maybe its time we put things in perspective, folks