We Owe Them One

In the book "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" by Thomas L. Friedman, he makes an interesting point about military nurses in Iraq:

I walked away shaking my head, thinking: "What have we done to deserve such good people?" I don't know the answer, but I do know this: They deserve a government with a national agenda equal to their dedication and idealism. If this many Americans were ready to enlist for nation-building in Iraq, imagine how many would enlist in nation-building at home-- in the chance to revive and reinvigorate America so that it realizes its full potential?

This grabbed my interest because it made me realize that while here at home, we have incompetent politicians bickering over minute issues and battling against the opposite party for only the sake of battling the other party, whereas overseas in Iraq, we have dedicated people with a love for our country getting things done. This is especially contrasted when you take into account that this war is not of any particular importance to the U.S. (This is not just my personal opinion-- in a CBS news poll from August 20-24, 2010 of 1,082 adults nationwide, the question was "Do you think the result of the war with Iraq was worth the loss of American lives and other costs of attacking Iraq, or not?" and 20% voted "Worth it", 72% voted "Not worth it", and the remainder were unsure. These data disregard the political party of the people.) With the way our government is (not) operating, I could never have the motivation that these people have to work in Iraq-- but I'm proud that someone does. I think that anyone fighting for our country deserves a country worth fighting for. We should probably think about rebuilding our nation so that it's one to be proud of.