My generation’s war was Viet Nam. Primarily due to a 333 in the lottery I didn’t go. That doesn’t prohibit me from empathy and understanding. I do not speak Vietnamese nor did I know the geography or customs. (I could have found it on the globe but that is about it – and more than a lot of other young men of my generation.) Had I been on the ground my life would have been in the hands of an interpreter and my organization’s success would have been in large part dependent on cooperative denizens. Fast forward two generations, change the location to Afghanistan and the story is basically the same. If I can realize this why couldn’t 16 House Republicans?
