"Something very, very wrong with this picture"

Bob Herbert in the NYT asks the question perennially unaswered by the war supporters. If this so called war is such a noble cause, why are poor people the only ones making sacrifices for it?

Here's the money grafs.

If Mr. Bush were willing to do something he has refused to do so far - speak plainly and honestly to the American people about this war - he might be able to explain why U.S. troops should continue with an effort that is, in large part at least, benefiting Iraqi factions that are murderous, corrupt and terminally hostile to women. If by some chance he could make that case, the next appropriate step would be to ask all Americans to do their part for the war effort.

College kids in the U.S. are playing video games and looking forward to frat parties while their less fortunate peers are rattling around like moving targets in Baghdad and Mosul, trying to dodge improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades.

...If the war in Iraq is worth fighting - if it's a noble venture, as the hawks insist it is - then it's worth fighting with the children of the privileged classes. They should be added to the combat mix. If it's not worth their blood, then we should bring the other troops home.

Indeed. Unless all Americans are sacrificing, (especially the class that is making the money on it), it's not a real war - it's just a neo-con inspired corporate capitalist scheme in disguise.