A Terrible Day

Today in Iraq, over 20 US and coalition soldiers and civilians were killed in a horrific attack on a mess hall near the city of Mosul.

Today's incident offers a stark and terrible reminder of the costs of war. Our task in Iraq remains exceedingly difficult and dangerous. As someone who believes in the rightness of our cause in that country, it is painful to confront the price of those efforts. I do so because I believe the alternative means paying an even more terrible cost elsewhere.

Our enemies taunt us by saying that they love death while we love life. They take this as a sign of their courage and of our decadence. They are wrong. Who has more courage? Brainwashed fanatics who want to die because they believe they will go to paradise; or patriotic citizens who want to live, yet who willingly risk their lives anyway out of devotion to their country? True courage comes from surmounting fear, not from worshipping death.

I offer my thoughts and prayers to the families of those killed today, to the wounded and their families, and to all of our men and women defending freedom in Iraq and elsewhere.

Update: Instapundit links to this first-hand account of the Mosul attack from an Army chaplain. It is a powerful and sobering read.