A skeptic, mindful of the destruction in Kuwait, the carnage in southern Iraq and the suffering of the Kurds, might argue that America had spent billions whipping a third-rate military dictatorship to little result. Saddam was still in power and the chances for lasting peace in the Middle East seemed hardly improved by his humiliation. Why should such a war–a war that lasted only 43 days and cost but 376 American lives–touch off a $12 million bash billed as the biggest victory parade in Washington since World War II?
But the doubters, it seemed, missed the point. This was about them–the men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines who, together with the reservists mobilized. in the gulf, sacrificed and fought for a tiny nation half the world away. Marching past the monuments to the great leaders of American history last week, they stood for all those who ever served in the line of patriotic duty–and to millions of their countrymen, they had clearly earned a hearty “Well done!”
