5 September 2010: Leaving Iraq with God and Porno

Among the many images in the media of our troops returning home from Iraq, the two which stand out in my mind appear side by side in the current issue of Time magazine.  One shows a beefy soldier with the I-116th on bended knees, religiously packing a stack of his favorite reading matter, mostly girlie mags. And the other, right next to it, shows others with the same regiment, praying silently before their last convoy-escort mission to Baghdad.  This, for me, is truly evocative of America today—on the one hand, God; on the other hand, porno.  And now we can all wash our hands off Iraq.