The L.A. Times is running a series of profiles on wounded and limbless soldiers returning from Iraq. Forgive me for going to a Vietnam memory on this but one of the things that turned me around on that war — I went from protesting the protesters to being one of them — was what I saw as a lack of compassion for the troops on the part of those who wanted the war to continue or even escalate. Put simply, I found myself marching among people who simultaneously screamed "Support our soldiers" while not seeming to place a very high value on the lives of those soldiers. When the parents and widows of fallen servicemen spoke out against the war or when the amputees made themselves conspicuous, there was an anger towards them for reminding us that, in a time of war, this happens.
I am not suggesting that the fact that there are body counts and soldiers crippled for life is, in and of itself, reason for stopping a war. Some wars are necessary. But if they're going to go and get blown up in our service, I think the least we can do is look at it.
The first part of the Times series is here, and you should be able to find your way to the others from there. It's very sad reading with occasional glimmers of inspiration, but it will help us to remember that the human cost of a war is not just in the number of fatalities.