“Blood lust has faded, but was not replaced with the resolve of understanding. That is a failure of the Bush administration, the military, and of a press that views itself as being above nationality.”

First of all, allow me to add my thank you for your service. Your commentary shows that your depth of experience and understanding were hard won in the service of your country and humanity and your fellow troops. Thank you.

That said, The frustrations of not appearing to have the support or at the very least the understanding of a seeming distracted nation is rooted in many failures, but it is not a new phenomenon. But the war on the home front while very important, has not been given the priority needed, nor has the information war overseas been given the critical attention it deserves.

It is still a new kind of war, a new kind of enemy and a new kind of warrior is being asked to perform multiple tasks once delegated to diplomats, construction crews and psychologists as well as maintaining mastery of arms and self control. But despite the efforts of our finest, and the finest from a number of countries determined to put an end to the sense-less-ness of Islamist organized terror, just putting a name on the enemy, a name to the fight and defining what victory will look like seems beyond the grasp of many politicians, beyond the capacity of most journalists, and therefore out of the grasp of most of our fellow citizens. For over sixteen years now the wonks in DC have been trying to define what the enemy is, who the enemy is and how they have earned our enmity.

I think the war will be chronicled in history, and accurately named historically, but the lack of identifying tags, rally points, or even measures of right and wrong are a cultural phenomenon, and are hampering if not outright hamstringing the efforts of our military. That such a simple task has not been accomplished is a measure of how difficult it is.