While we keep our focus on Iraq indefinitely, bin Laden remains free to plot his next attack and can continue to portray us as occupiers and recruit more volunteers to his cause. Shortly after 9/11, the president was given authorization to go into Afghanistan because he already had the authority to do so: going after the ones who directly hit us. I was extremely disappointed that the mission has changed.

Military experts, including Generals Barry McCaffrey and John Batiste, have sounded the warning that our military is stretched so thin because of Iraq and our other commitments that, as General Batiste put it recently, “our Army and Marine Corps are at a breaking point with little to show for it.” A weakened and over-committed military is a recipe for a national security disaster. Meanwhile, Washington continues to talk about how many other countries it could send troops to.

As if a national debt topping $9 trillion is not bad enough, each day this war is fought, deficit spending increases. To avoid raising taxes and the subsequent anger that would follow come election time, the federal government will continue to borrow money from countries like Saudi Arabia and China, making your children and grandchildren’s futures dependent on the actions of other nations and selling out our national security to the highest bidder.

Make no mistake, as Congress spends more and more, there will be less and less to fund Social Security and Medicare, the programs Washington has made us dependent on, without a massive tax increase. Meanwhile, bin Laden proclaims that our falling dollar is a sign that al-Qaeda’s “bleed-until-bankruptcy plan” is working.

Those who caution that leaving Iraq would be a disaster are the same ones who promised the conflict would be a “cake-walk.” It is impossible to tell how long we will have to stay and how many lives we will have to lose if we wait for political factions that have been at war for centuries to come together.

Here lies the problem in laymen’s terms, whether you believe in the war or not. We as Americans will not be able to buy the bear essentials to survive, such as bread, milk, butter, eggs, our medications, and/or fuel. Just look at how much everything around you is going up. The bottom line here is what do you real want? Is it to be able to feed your family, pay your bills, or pay the rising high fuel cost and stay in Iraq and not be able to pay your mortgage? The choice really is yours.

By bringing our troops home we will be able to drive the cost of living down or at the very least sustain it. We will be able to strengthen our economy, the weak dollar, and our children’s future. We must return our focus to finding bin Laden and making sure that we can be better prepared for any future threats against our economy and national security.

One last thing: Our military men and women serving should be better paid and not have to be on welfare for their families to survive because of the weak pay from the government.

"Next time, when you see a military person, hug and thank them for their service."