Military moms wield power

The proud mothers who smile through their tears and send their children off to war are, and always have been, a lethal weapon of mass destruction, ready to be used on command. Like the child who murders his parents and pleads for mercy because he is an orphan, women who sacrifice their own children on the altar of an immoral war expect us to grieve with them when their child is returned to them in a wheelchair or coffin.

I grieve with them and I also hold them responsible for our collective grief. They expect to be honored for their "sacrifice" and the majority (now opposed to the war in Iraq), unwilling to hurt their pride, helps them to believe the lie, "their children died for freedom."

Instead of basking in accolades from the trickster-in-chief, more and more grieving mothers are giving up their pride and honoring their children by joining an effort to end this shameful war. These mothers are heroes in their own right, and their children's children and children everywhere will honor them. They have changed a weapon of mass destruction into a powerful force for truth, justice, compassion and peace.

Gretchen Nielson

The Spokesman Review

Spokane, WA