I'm not sure whether I'd read any posts by soldier-blogger Andrew Olmsted before today. But he was killed in Iraq yesterday and hilzoy at Obsidian Wings has put up an item that he wrote specifically to be published posthumously in the event of his death:
Sometimes going to war is the right idea. I think we've drawn that line too far in the direction of war rather than peace, but I'm a soldier and I know that sometimes you have to fight if you're to hold onto what you hold dear. But in making that decision, I believe we understate the costs of war; when we make the decision to fight, we make the decision to kill, and that means lives and families destroyed. Mine now falls into that category; the next time the question of war or peace comes up, if you knew me at least you can understand a bit more just what it is you're deciding to do, and whether or not those costs are worth it.
The entire post is here. Don't read it unless you are willing to be devastated.
(via Balloon Juice)
--Christopher Orr