it may not matter to you when our military personnel come home; in fact it probably helps your election chances for this conflict to wear on; but for many people it matters a great deal.
It matters to the 11,000 soldiers who are being held for, in some cases, years after their original separation date because we can’t recruit enough replacements. They were told recently the policy will not change soon and the numbers will probably grow. It matters to their wives and children, their parent and their friends.
It matters to the thousands of Reserve and Guard soldiers who are serving their second and third 15 month tours away from their families, struggling to keep homes and businesses going on a third or a quarter of their usual income.
It matters to people like my grandson who was medically discharged after a Humvee wreck in his 11 month in Iraq. He wishes some of the 12 billion dollars a month being poured in Iraq was being used to grow jobs where he lives in Arkansas and other depressed areas. He is barely able to support his family.
And lastly you said what really matters is the casualties to American troops. Can you honestly tell the American people you think the casualties will stop in the next year or two or three? Maybe they will drop to 100 a year or 75 a year but in 60 years the deaths have not stopped in Israel and I don’t think they will in Iraq either. And if it is one American soldier a year it will matter to someone. A wife or a mother or child but it will matter Mr. McCain; to someone other than you.